


Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Rejection

by Titan0fPower



Category: Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika | Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Genre: F/F, Homucifer, demon, post-rebellion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-15
Updated: 2017-06-29
Packaged: 2018-07-18 07:23:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 40
Words: 73,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7305022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Titan0fPower/pseuds/Titan0fPower
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The night is finally over.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Rewrite Chapter 1: Audience of One

" _It's quite stifling yet beautiful here. At least that's what I think." The silhouette twirled as she pointed at the scenery of eternal sea of darkness. "It's always just you in here, isn't it, Homura?"_

_Homura Akemi - the time traveling demon gazed back at her opponent with glowing reddish violet eyes. "Why are we here again?"_

" _Oh don't ask why. You know why," for a moment, the silhouette appeared disheartened, but stiffened its shoulders once more, "This place, me. What do you think this all means?"_

" _An annoying waste of my time," Homura waved her hair with her right hand._

" _All of this beautiful yet exhausting change of scenery is very much that - time. All of your failures, all of your weaknesses. Unable to save any of them. Not even the most important of them all. You should wake up now, Good-for-nothing."_

"Homura!" The raven-head bolted up, surprised as she saw Kyouko's hand snapping at her dazed expression. Kyouko noticed she returned to the land of the living, "Jeez. You've been daydreaming more often lately. You're the smartest in the class but you sure you're feeling alright?" She pointed at Homura's massive eye-bags.

All 4 group members (Kyouko, Hitomi, Madoka, and Sayaka)- apart from Homura, looked at her in worry.

"She's right, Homura-chan. You look really pale and exhausted. Do you need to go to the nurse's office?" The pink-haired tiny figure known as Madoka Kaname expressed her worry.

"No thanks, I'll go there myself," Homura rejected her helping hand, "I'll finish my work by the end of the day, so don't worry about being behind on the project."

Akemi raised herself from her desk, told about her condition, and walked out of the classroom.

"What crawled up her butt?" Sayaka snarled. Kyouko couldn't help but chuckle at Sayaka's comment.

"I think it's a matter of pride," Hitomi puffed toward Kyouko's childish behavior, "Girls like her don't really like to admit anything's wrong."

"I hope Homura-chan is okay…" The pink student's gloom expression was caught by Sayaka, who hugged her in the spur of the moment.

"Aww don't be sad, Madoka! If Homura won't give you attention, I will!" Madoka squeaked at Sayaka's sudden affection.

For Sayaka, it was natural to be close to Madoka. The two of them hadn't seen each other for a very long time ever since Madoka moved away to America due to her mother's work. After she came back, she was shyer than what Sayaka would remember. In fact, her accent changed (she got an American accent). Even then, the two were inseparable. They were the best of friends.

[] []

[] []

After school, Madoka and her friends dashed out into the setting sun. "Did you think about that wish yet, Madoka?" Kyouko wrapped her hands around her head while she chewed on a piece of pocky.

The girl in question shook her head, "I don't really think I want anything right now. I want to give my wish some thought."

Kyubey jumped from Sayaka's shoulder to Madoka's, and nuzzled near her ear. "If you ever need to make a wish, I'll be there," the white alien licked its paws in a cutesy manner.

"Now now, Kyubey, nobody likes a pushy boy," Mami wrapped her arms around the creature, and carried it like a pet. "Give her some time. No one wants to regret their wish."

"Hahahaha," Madoka laughed awkwardly, "I also have ballet lessons. Tomorrow's my last day of scheduled practice, and then next week will be the Swan competition. Fighting wraiths would probably shorten my ballet time…"

"Man I never would've thought you'd be into ballet 'till you returned from America. Kinda like a certain someone's boyfriend," Sayaka nudged at both Hitomi and Madoka, albeit with a strained laugh. She still wasn't over Kamijou Kyosuke.

"Lately it's all just recitals for him," Hitomi puffed, "But it's also what I love about him.." The green-haired girl blushed deep red as she said that. It was typical teenage love.

Kyouko rolled her eyes, "Bet Hitomi's wish is gonna be 'Make Kamijou pay attention to me!' " She laughed while Hitomi puffed, until Mami cleared her throat.

"Remember Sayaka, Kyouko. Tonight," The upperclassman reminded the two fellow magical girls about the patrol tonight.

"I wish you wouldn't leave Madoka and I out of the loop…" Hitomi's face grew sullen and sad.

"Ahahah sorry, Hitomi. I promise, I'll hang out with you and Madoka soon," Sayaka turned toward the right intersection, along with Mami and Kyouko.

"This is where we split up. Don't get lost, you two." Mami waved goodbye.

"Yes, Mami-senpai!" Madoka and Hitomi synced.

Kyubey released itself from Mami's grasp, "I should leave it to you three then. Goodbye for now." With that, the strange incubator disappeared.

After the two girls left out of sight, the trio revealed their soul-gem rings. "Think Homura will show up tonight?" Kyouko munched on her pocky, "She hasn't been showing up on our rendezvous point lately."

"A girl like her is like a wild card. I can't trust her," Sayaka voiced her complaints, "Every fiber in my body screams goosebumps."

"You shouldn't say that, Sayaka-san. She brings in the most grief cubes and even shares it with us."

"That's what I find reaaallyy weird," Kyouko twirled around the two magical girls, unable to keep herself still, "How _does_ she get all them grief cubes? Like seriously. She must know of a gold mine that she ain't telling us. Probably got a lot more under her thumb."

"Let's not start seeding doubts on our fellow magical girl. She is a little mysterious, but I don't think she has any bad intentions," The blonde held up her golden soul-gem, and transformed in an abandoned parking lot, "And besides, I think she's just a little lonely." Mami was always the most positive of the group. Or was it more out of desperation?

Sayaka frowned and muttered some incomprehensible words, but Kyouko just laughed, "That's Mami alright. Hey, now that I think about it, where's Nagisa?"

"She's at home studying. She has a big test tomorrow and I don't want her failing."

The other two girls transformed, and jumped on the rooftops with inhuman strength.

In the core of Mitakihara, the three magical girls climbed up the largest skyscraper.

Mami pointed toward the direction of Kazamino city. There was a medium-sized cloud of darkness swirling around it. "Is it just me, or did that thing get bigger?" Kyouko gasped.

Mami nodded - confirming Kyouko's suspicions, "It did. We might have to go on a hunt there earlier than predicted..."

"We'll be _less_ ready though," Sayaka worried.

"Just raid Homura's house. Bet she got tons of grief cubes."

Mami sighed, and nearly facepalmed. "I'm sure Akemi-san will join us. After all, that's a huge Wraith infestation. And it's growing by the day."

[] []

[] []

Homura was clad in a beautiful feathery dress that exposed her thin bare shoulders down to her slick lower back. Her diamond stockings delved over her long heels.

The Demon shuffled through the waving grass in the pale halved moonlight, dancing the ballet of Swan Lake. Her high heels cut the grass beneath her as the wind brought them down from the large cliff as Homura performed her solo. She spread her wings, and plunged off the cliff.

She walked the empty streets, dancing alone in the chilling night. A bright smile crossed her face. She was alone, but Homura finally managed to tear down her walls of confinement.

No more time loops. No more deaths. Homura accomplished everything she ever wanted.

So what did she feel like doing more than anything?

 _Dance of course!_ Her Dark Orb jittered around her, excited and unrestrained.

Shadows emerged from her own, and danced in unison. They followed her, performing for an audience of one.

Feathers flew up in the sudden gust of wind. One day, the world might rebel against The Demon, but not tonight.

She did the impossible. She melded every broken dream, created a peaceful universe with friends and family at the epicenter of it all.

And she finally saved her best friend, her goddess, her reason for existence from alienation.

What more could she possibly want?

 _ **Everything. Take everything,**_ The salamander in her ear whispered, _**Everything's rightfully yours.**_

The plum diamond in her earring cracked as it swayed in the chilly wind as Homura basked in her solitude. Her giggles echoed throughout the night.

She left a mountain of dead white cats in her wake.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I decided to restart the series, considering I read a few reviews saying my writing was awkward. Let me know if you prefer my writing like this, or if you prefer the old chapters. (I'll let the old chapters sit for about a week if everyone prefers the rewrite). I also made things a little simpler and a bit slower, probably a bit slower since I also read that I was rushing things and the content was confusing.
> 
> Also, thanks to equach for looking over my chapter. You might be inexperienced as an editor, but you did help out quite a lot. Thank you.


	2. Chapter 2: Vanity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the late update. College officially kicked my ass. That and making a digital art portfolio is freakishly difficult. I deleted the original 6 chapters in hope that the new rewrite chapters I make are better than their predecessors. Enjoy.

#  **Chapter 2**

 

A quiet grassy plain swayed over the calm wind peacefully. There laid a sleepy magical girl with short brown hair and green eyes. Her attire mimicked a small bear cub, with her hands wearing gloves in the form of paws. Her stomach was bleeding profusely. 

 

She couldn’t regenerate, as her soul gem had darkened immensely from the sheer amount of despair. A figure that blocked out the darkened sun hovered above her. Countless amounts of black feathers fell from her grace.

 

The winged silhouette watched over a small magical girl - no more than 8 years old. Her small bear-like ears made her seem even smaller. She was gasping for air.

 

The magical girl in question was dying and held on to her chest, but her eyes looked above and noticed the winged figure clad in black. "An angel…"

 

"That's a first," Homura muttered, "I am the Law of Cycles, and I've come to take you away."

 

She hovered over the dying girl, and moved her hand over her orange soul-gem. The girl gasped a sigh of relief, and closed her eyes. "Close your eyes, and sleep forever."

 

**_Don't do it._ **

 

**_She doesn't deserve it._ **

 

**_Pathetic._ **

 

**_Don't grant her eternal salvation._ ** The voices in her salamander earring grew stronger, emanating from the darkness inside the gem. 

 

The Demon smiled.

 

[] []

[] []

  
  


It was the start of a new morning. A flock of crows flew across the oddly-bright sun, and swirled around the busy intersections of Mitakihara City. 

 

Mami, Kyouko, and Sayaka had already met up at a specific intersection. The redhead cheerfully met the drowzee duo, her blue bag shifting along the forces of nature. “Sayaka!! Mami!!”

 

“Geh, so energetic in the morning!” The blue knight was almost disgusted by the visible amount of energy Kyouko had. 

 

“Did you eat sweets so early, Kyouko?” Mami raised an eyebrow suspiciously. “Eating sweets early in the morning is bad for your health.”

 

“Geh!” Kyouko flinched back, “That’s not why I’m hyper.” The other two magical girls looked at her with seeds of doubt in their eyes. “Ugh...okay fine, part of the reason is because I ate some sweets.”

 

“What’s the  _ other  _ reason?” Sayaka crossed her arms around her chest, “Better not be about more sweets,” She teased the redhead. 

 

“I have a plan!”

 

“For what?” Mami looked at her funny. 

 

“How to get a ton of grief cubes!!!”

 

For a moment, Sayaka and Mami glanced at Kyouko. “Huh?!” 

 

“Just leave it to me.” The fanged magical girl proclaimed proudly. 

 

[] []

[] []

 

Mitakihara Middle School’s bell just rung. Middle schoolers everywhere rushed to get to their classes, afraid of the repercussions of being late. 

 

Children donned in funeral clothing pranced around the school, unnoticed by anyone. They smiled and mocked the naive students. One porcelain child known as Coldheartedness raised her hand upwards in a curled fashion that held a ripened tomato. She aimed it at the ignorant Sayaka Miki, but her hand was held in place by a powerful and unforgiving grip.

 

Coldheartedness turned to her jailer, and saw the raven-haired girl known as Homura Akemi. She stared daggers at her child, “Leave. You are not to harm anyone without my orders.”

 

“Useless…” Coldheartedness muttered, “Good-for-nothing.”

 

“Go,” The time-traveler spoke with a tinge of poison, “I won’t repeat myself.”

 

The doll snarled, and disappeared in a puff of black smoke. 

 

Homura Akemi walked without concern of the bell. She had all the time in the world, and watched the swaying trees behind the window. Her hand reached out to the green leaves, but was halted by a wall of unseen glass. 

 

The time traveler flipped her hair with her right hand, and walked back to class. 

 

As she sat on her silver desk, Ms. Saotome started ranting about her broken relationship with the latest man. Homura half-smirked at Saotome’s actions as she couldn’t help but find them repetitive, annoying, yet oddly entertaining. 

 

As the Temptation of Desire, and the being of love - Homura Akemi couldn’t help but both frown and applaud her teacher’s way of life. 

 

_ H-Homura Akemi.  _ A child-like voice rang in her ears. 

 

_ Yes?  _ Homura replied telepathically. 

 

_ Three magical girl are currently falling to despair as we speak in the Kazamino Blight.  _

 

_ I know,  _ Her exhausted eyes furrowed,  _ I’m already there.  _ Homura’s eyes revealed a bottomless darkness, something only a broken human being could show. 

 

_ Why is it that you insist on using more energy-consuming methods? You have no obligation to attend an educational facility and split yourself apart to continue the Law of Cycles,  _ Kyubey nearly ranted, but shivered as Homura’s hand reached out to it. 

 

It was expecting violent torture, but instead received a pat across its furry back - uncharacteristic of Homura Akemi, The Demon. 

 

Strangely enough, the Incubator could feel something flicker in that deep dark void called Homura, but what exactly it didn’t know.

 

“Out of my sight, Incubator.”

 

And with that, the tortured alien disappeared. 

 

[] []

[] []

 

It was history class. Ms. Saotome had given everyone a month-long research project on World War II. It had been about a week since Homura and her group had started. 

 

The raven had expected to work alone, but strangely enough, almost through a twist of fate, Madoka had invited her into her group.

 

She nearly refused, but Madoka wouldn’t take no for an answer, especially with Kyouko backing her up while Sayaka begrudgingly accepted her. The blue haired girl couldn’t figure out why she felt uncomfortable with Homura around, and would sometimes be vocal about it to Mami and Kyouko. She never did with Madoka and Hitomi around, though.

 

Kyouko’s fingers snapped over Homura’s brooding face, “Wake up Homura!” 

 

“Huh?” The raven-head found herself daydreaming, “Sorry. Couldn’t sleep last night.” That was partially true. 

 

“Jeez, you’re the smartest gal I know, Homura, and you’re helping the dummies with the project,” She pointed at Sayaka, ”Can’t have you blacking out.”

 

“Who you callin’ a dummy?!” Sayaka waved her hand toward Kyouko, almost laughing. 

 

Hitomi clasped her hands together, somewhat annoyed, “Let’s not get too off-track everyone.” The green-haired girl was visibly perturbed by distractions.  __

 

“Jeez Homura-chan, you should stop staying up late.” The pink-haired girl scolded her.

 

Out of resignation, Homura sighed and raised her hands up in defeat, “Fine. I’ll stop staying up so late.” The raven could feel the redhead’s unrelenting glare on her, and couldn’t help but turn to her. “Is there something you want to say to me, Kyouko Sakura-san?” Her eyebrows raised in suspicion. 

 

“Nope~,” Kyouko stuttered uncharacteristically, “Nothing at all~.” She whistled suspiciously. Suspicious glares crept up Homura’s skin.

 

Kyouko winked at her, but only managed to embarrass herself. 

 

“Right…” Homura glanced at her, confused and doubtful. She turned toward the other girls, who snickered at the exchange. “What’s so funny?” The Demon had no sense of humor. 

 

[] []

[] []

 

The curtain of dusk had fallen. An all-mighty darkness swept up the atmosphere from what was once filled with light and laughter. There was not but a single twinkling star in the sky. 

 

An over-sized pendulum swayed back and forth in an empty room devoid of air. A ticking sound emanated from the countless clocks in the clean white floor plan.

 

There laid a blight of black in the middle of the purity. It was the raven-haired girl, Homura Akemi. 

 

She was clad in a white strap shirt and black shorts. Her skin had red symbols starting from her bare shoulders down to her ankles. They radiated in power. 

 

Homura was in a deep trance, but occasional slips of power escaped from her vessel. Her power was far too enormous for her flesh-and-bone body. 

 

A small  _ clink  _ noise emanated from a doorknob that slowly twisted and turned without permission. The source was Kyouko, who was using two paper clips to unlock the door. 

 

After fiddling with the door for a while, she finally managed to get it open. It was at the back door of the huge triangular home. 

 

Slowly but surely, Kyouko stepped her foot into the clean floor plan. She left the door ajar, and surveyed the area. “Wow,” the fanged magical girl muttered to herself, “This place is huge.”

 

There were hallways interconnecting with other hallways. “This place is awesome, we should totally have a party in here-” An echoed giggle bounced off the walls. 

 

From the corner of her eye, Kyouko could’ve sworn seeing a little girl running across the kitchen, giggling hysterically. She knew it couldn’t have been Homura, and that made her skin crawl. 

 

“Did Homura have siblings?” She reassured herself, and made her way to the kitchen which was devoid of any life. 

 

Apart from the ghostly laugh, the house had no sign of anyone living there. Everything was neat and tidy. It was also deafeningly quiet. 

 

“I take that back, this place is creeping me out…” The dim lighting was barely maintained by a single lightbulb that hanged on the ceiling. 

 

She trailed through the seemingly-unending maze. “Where could those grief cubes be…” Kyouko thought to herself, frustrated as she couldn’t tell left from right in this strange labyrinth. 

 

The more she explored, the larger the house became. The redhead could’ve sworn she had gone down 6 stories up and 10 stories down. 

 

What seemed hopeless was finally distracted by the swinging of a pendulum and the ticking of a clock. Kyouko Sakura followed the echo, and found herself in front of a massive surreal room dressed in pure white. There, in a huge white couch was a still Homura Akemi. 

 

Kyouko saw the calm and collective girl all alone in some strange, fancy room. The redhead hid behind the wall that interconnected the hallway and the giant room, and peeked out, wondering if Homura saw her. 

 

She didn’t. In fact, Homura just  _ sat  _ there, doing nothing. It was like the raven was nothing more than a mere doll that only moved when commanded to. 

 

A good five minutes had passed when Kyouko had noticed her. She stared and glared, and when childish curiosity took over, she tapped the wall.  

 

Homura showed no signs of movement even with the redhead generating noise. Kyouko punched a wall several times, trying to get her attention - to no avail. 

 

Something else unnerved her. There were strange symbols placed throughout the magical girl’s body. They would constantly glow. Her earring had a crack in its eerie gem. 

 

That’s when she noticed something was wrong. “H-Homura?” She revealed herself from behind the hallway wall, and stood in front of the paralyzed Homura.  

 

She snapped her fingers in front of the raven. 

 

Nothing happened. 

  
A cold sweat ran down from Kyouko’s spine. 


	3. Chapter 3: Lobotimized Soul Gem

A large winged figure sat upon the thrones of a giant skyscraper, the wind caressed her ever-long silk-like black hair. Her companion was nothing short of an overgrown rabid white rat. What remained of the moon reflected light on her ghostly pale white skin. 

 

The Temptress of Desire looked over the magical girls in her grasp. Two warriors had fallen to the blight in the Kazamino city, but Homura had no intention of destroying it. To her, it was a place of great  _ nostalgia _ . “ **_Incubator_ ** ,” Her voice was almost seductive. 

 

Kyubey’s tattered ears flicked up, “Yes?” It replied with the tiniest fragment of fear. 

 

“Do you remember the first stage of your ‘experiment’ on my soul gem?” The Demon tilted her head in an almost inhuman manner, and majestically waved her hair back with her right hand. 

 

“I do,” The alien said bluntly. 

 

“It was what humans call lobotomy. You lobotomized my soul gem,  **_Incubator_ ** ,” There was a slight trace of anger in her otherwise perfectly flat voice, “You pinned needles into my soul gem, allowing whatever essence of my original self to leak out. Do you know what that felt like?”

 

“You were under a coma we devised,” Kyubey started to explain, “It was impossible for you to feel any-”

 

The Demon interrupted it, putting her finger against her lips, shushing the alien, “It felt like you tore my stomach open, and let it sit there for days, allowing all sorts of insects and parasites to settle in there like some kind of germ-infested wedding party. The worst part of it was...you forced me to  **_live_ ** and  **_endure_ ** through that experience. No amount of words could describe that torture.”

 

Kyubey kept quiet, but its ears stayed perked up. Every inch of its body shook silently. It was clearly mangled and torn. Pieces of its flesh could be seen hanging from Kyubey’s fur. Homura reached over and stroked what remained of its fur. 

 

“But I have to be thankful to you, Incubator. You allowed me to reach my objective of reaching Madoka again. However…” She tore pieces of its fur one by one, making it shiver in pain. “Soon, I’m going to do the same thing to you. An eye for an eye, Kyubey.”

 

With grace and discipline, Homura Akemi extended her blackened wings and jumped down from the skyscraper and into the blight of Kazamino. Kyubey perched on her shoulder, albeit reluctantly. 

 

The background in the blight was a desert, with sand that extended for miles on end. In the core of the Blight was a tomb, with red spider lilies on its center. 

 

Every wraith she encountered was completely oblivious to her existence. Homura was invisible to each and every single last one of them. 

 

Her boots walked with pure evil elegance that shuffled through the sneering cold sand as she made her way toward two despairing magical girls.

 

They were Oriko Mikuni and Kirika Kure. A slight smile crept up Homura’s expression. The duo were just barely alive, as they saw her move toward them. Her appearance was striking to them.

 

“The Law of Cycles?” Oriko moved her hand toward Kirika, who smiled at her in return. “It’s going to be alright, Kirika. She’s here.”

 

“She’s not,” The Temptress shut down their hopes. 

 

“Huh?” The duo looked at her in confusion, to which Homura simply shrugged in disapproval. 

 

“Since there is a God, there must also be a Devil,” The raven-haired deity explained, “And you two have been  **_very_ ** bad.” She finally stood centimeters away from the two mortal girls, who gaped in confusion. “If you had kept your original potential as a magical girl, Oriko, you might’ve seen me coming. Unfortunately, I took it away. Tsk tsk tsk. Such disappointment. To think you were once a thorn in my side. And Kirika,” Her head turned toward her, “You don’t know what true love is. Not at all.” 

 

“You bastard! What’s going to happen to Oriko?!” Even now, Kirika put her devoted in front, as she held on weakly to Homura’s boots. Hundreds of feathers fell from the sky, touching the sandy surface. 

 

“I offer no salvation, Oriko Mikuni and Kirika Kure. Disappear.” She motioned her hands toward their pitch-black soul gems, and cracked them. Then and there, they died, but their bodies did not disappear. 

 

Homura truly had not saved them. The grief that was expunged from them was fused in a dark ball that landed on Homura’s palm. “Are you going to make me hold it, Homura Akemi?” Kyubey asked, nearly shaking. 

 

For a while, The Demon contemplated the opportunity, but decided against it. “I could torture you a little more with this, but I’m going to make you take a break. After all, I can’t have you grow numb to what I’m going to do to you.”

 

Her Dark Orb revealed itself from her hand, and consumed the grief into it almost like a grief seed, but instead of growing darker, it shined brighter with more power. 

 

“Hm?” The Demon stood still in her tracks, almost in a daze. 

 

“What is it, Homura Akemi?” Kyubey’s curiosity overrode its uncharacteristic fear. 

 

Without warning, Homura grappled Kyubey’s neck, and flung it to the harsh sand beneath her. “Someone’s in my house. It’s…Kyouko Sakura…” She smiled a malicious smile, “She’s probably here for the grief seeds.”

 

Her body turned into a dark smoke-like cloud filled up with complete darkness. The fog entity encased itself around the independent Dark Orb that floated in air, and spiraled into the blighted night sky, leaving Kyubey to fend for itself in the Kazamino blight. 

 

[] []

[] []

 

Back at the maze-like home, Kyouko paced around the still Homura with an obvious glare of worry and impatience. Unbeknownst to her, however, a trail of dark smoke crept closer to the dollish Homura. The Dark Orb separated from the eerie smoke, and placed itself on Homura’s left hand. 

 

The dark cloud crept near Homura’s ajar mouth, settling down her throat. It took a while for the smoke to finally settle in, as it moved the vessel bit by bit, her hands gaining life with every twitch. 

 

A once-still Homura regained consciousness as her arms and legs twitched. Her eyes blinked several times before finally realizing where she was. 

 

The raven-haired demon had learned the art of astral projection. Having a Dark Orb rather than a Soul Gem was much more useful as it had added benefits and freedom. 

 

There was no limit to how far she had to be from her Dark Orb, especially because it could move on its own volition. Homura had no real reason to stay in her flesh-and-bone body, but she felt a sense of nostalgia from it. 

 

Being in the form of a deity robbed her of normal human pleasures, more so than a magical girl. She had found out while in her Demon form that she could not taste food, or even feel the cold wind of a hot summer daze brushing against her skin. 

 

This revelation made Homura melancholic, as she thought about how Madoka felt all this time. 

 

“Homura?” Kyouko noticed the sudden activity from the once-frozen magical girl. Immediately, Kyouko noticed an annoyed glare from the black-haired girl, who was already in a horrid mood.  

 

“Kyouko Sakura-san,” The raven-haired girl’s tone was tainted by a slight amount of suspicion, “You broke into my house. Again. I told you not to do that.” She demanded with visible anger rising in her voice.

 

“Ahahaha…” The redhead laughed nervously, “Uh...wait! That’s not what I wanted to talk about. Homura, what’s up with you?”

 

“What?” Homura feigned ignorance, “Don’t change the subject.”

 

“Hom-”

 

“Don’t change the subject,” Her legs raised up and carried her over to Kyouko Sakura as the redhead eyed her figure. “Why did you break into my house? It’s always something with you.” The raven-head’s velvet eyes looked at her companion with a disdained glare. Kyouko could see that Homura was pissed. 

 

Seeing no other choice, Kyouko complied reluctantly, “I uh...kinda maybe wanted to ‘borrow’ some grief seeds of yours.” 

 

The other girl burrowed her eyebrows, “And? You couldn’t have asked politely?”

 

“Can I have those grief seeds, pretty please?” Kyouko smiled sarcastically.

 

“You have no intention of feeling guilty over breaking into my home, do you?” Homura crossed her arms. She smiled as she felt a sense of nostalgia from the fanged magical girl. “Really...you never change, do you?”   
  


“Hah?! The hell’s that supposed to mean?!” Kyouko playfully raised her voice as she laughed out loud. Homura uncharacteristically giggled, which caught the redhead’s attention, but it only lasted for a moment. 

 

In that instant, Homura appeared as the most beautiful woman in the tomboy’s eyes. Homura looked genuinely happy, even if it was only for a split-second. “The grief seeds are in back room on your right. Second drawer of the small black cabinet near the mirror. Take as many as you like.”

 

“A-ah. Thanks Homes.”

 

_ Homes?  _ “Don’t call me that.” 

 

“So, Homes,” She ignored the raven-head’s comment, ”Are you going to come with us? Y’know, to the Blight that popped up in my hometown.”

 

Homura pondered her question, as she tilted her head and drew her hand over her black strands of hair, “No. I have something I need to do.”

 

“Can I force you to come?” Kyouko smiled widely, albeit uncomfortably. Homura shook her head. “Damn.”

 

Kyouko stood up from her couch and stretched her legs, “Hey, I know something’s really wrong with you. I won’t push you to tell me, but you should really get that checked, go to a doctor or something. You black out too much…”

 

“Why are you worrying about me?” The stoic raven-haired girl asked. She didn’t look powerful or all-knowledgeable when she asked that question. No, she looked vulnerable. 

Kyouko donned a genuine smile, exposing a fanged tooth, “Because...we’re friends.”

 

[] []

[] []

 

Madoka twirled around her mirror with ecstatic excitement. She smiled as she watched the frills of her beautiful white swan dress jump up and down. The golden pattern ran down from her chest to the plumped-up skirt. Her mother, Junko, peeked through the door and smiled.

 

“Mama!” Madoka shrieked in embarrassment, “Since when did you-”

 

“Since you opened the mirror, sweetie.” 

 

“So the whole time?!” The pink-haired ballet dancer pouted in red embarrassment. Her cheeks flushed a bright pink,unable to hide her emotions. 

 

“Sorry, sorry~” The mother said nonchalantly, “I couldn’t help but smile at how happy you looked. I never would’ve thought you’d pick up Ballet back in America.”

 

“Me neither!” Madoka jumped, “But when I tried it, it just seemed so natural. So weird.”

 

“Ready for the nationals competition this upcoming week?”

 

“You bet!”

 

“I got to tell you something sweetie,” Junko said, eyes sparkling, “You got some competition in your school. I checked the list of people participating in the Ballet, and you got a classmate who's also in the competition!” 

 

“Eh?! Who?!”

 

“Her name’s Homura Akemi. A natural beauty. She looks just like the human embodiment of a raven.” 

[] []

[] []

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author Notes
> 
> Took a while to get this chapter out. Nothing much happened, but I’m taking my time, because if I don’t I feel as though I might rush this way too fast like my previous incarnation of this story (to those readers who found this story early, you know what I’m talking about). I also decided to spell some things out for you guys since I heard some complaints about the confusing storyline. 
> 
> Guess people didn’t like my mystery factor. Go figure. 
> 
> Anyways, let me know what you guys think. I might take a bit longer with the next chapter. Who knows, I got midterms this week, and finals will be just around the corner. Damn.
> 
> That and I was helping equach out with his latest chapter of “Madoka Meets Horror”. The chapter is “Madoka meets Homucifer”. I collaborated with him. Take a look at it, read it, follow. My fellow writer is improving greatly, ever since chapter one. Though his story is mostly comedy, he takes the lore of monsters seriously. 
> 
> Stay tuned for my next chapter. (I really liked my Chapter title).


	4. Chapter 4: Cowardice

Homura looked over her massively enlarged home. It had a kind of melancholic feel to it. A huge place such as hers was meant to hold all kinds of people, but it belonged only to her, and to her alone. She then remembered Kyouko’s words, “ _ Because we’re friends. _ ”

 

The raven-haired girl almost smiled in nostalgia. She was always fond of Kyouko, even though her head-first attitude always made her somewhat unpredictable. 

 

_ “Here,”  _ Homura remembered saying to the redhead,  _ “I can’t help against the Blight. But this is the least I can do.”  _ She recalled handing Kyouko a whopping 36 grief cubes from a locked black box that had a single silver keyhole in it. Homura opened the box, and Kyouko’s eyes filled with glittery delight.

 

_ “W-wow....How the hell...that’s awesome...But...you sure you’re fine just handing THAT much to me?” _

 

_ “Take it before I change my mind.” _

 

Kyouko stuck her tongue out in protest,  _ “Bleh!” _ She said, as she swiped the box from Homura’s hands.  _ “Thanks, Homes.” _

 

_ “Don’t call me Homes…” _ She recalled.

 

“Don’t call me Homes..” Homura repeated. A rare smile found its way on her beautifully carved stone-face and made her  _ feel  _ alive. 

 

The Demon then heard something tear. It was loud, like a dozen papers being torn in half at once. She couldn’t find the source of it… Until she felt something dripping from her mouth against her volition, against her  _ will _ . The clean porcelain floor stained with tiny droplets of red. 

 

Stupefied with shock, Homura dragged her feet across the hallway and into the bathroom. Staring into the mirror, she opened her mouth. 

 

There it was - the source of the tear. Beneath her gums, her flesh tore open like an insulated plastic bag. Blood dropped profusely after she took a good look at it. 

 

“Oh dear oh my,” A doll shifted into her view by the mirror.

 

“Leave, Coldheartedness.” Homura said, without mercy in her voice. 

 

“I wonder~ Is it time to finally cut the Mistress up into tiny little pieces to make her easier to carry?!” 

 

“I said leave!” She glared at the doll, until it finally decided to shrug in disappointment, and left in a puff of black smoke. 

 

A velvet glow emanated from her Dark Orb, and the wound was gone. 

 

Homura could still feel the taste of fresh iron in her mouth. 

 

Suddenly, she felt heavy - under pressure from the sheer weight of her own home. The raven felt the ceiling, the air, the sheer amount of space suddenly adding to her body. If she stayed here any longer, she’d collapse and implode from within her body. 

 

As such, she ran out of the bathroom in a hurry, and broke into the outside with such frenzy. The family of Dolls laughed at the amusing debacle. 

 

[] []

[] []

 

The invasive cold shivered through Sayaka’s bones, as she wiped off the sweat from her forehead. She panted as she tried to catch her breath. Her patrol had just ended, and she managed to collect 5 grief cubes from it. Sayaka transformed back into her school uniform, and shoved her treasure into her left skirt pocket. 

 

She jumped into a hidden alleyway, and quickly and naturally blended into the crowd. The streets were filled with fancy restaurants, but one on her peripheral vision caught her attention. It was a cafe, and she saw a blob of black hair by the window, sipping a cup of coffee. 

 

It was Homura. Sayaka focused her eyesight on her, and noticed she was wearing flimsy pajamas. “What in the world…” She thought to herself. 

 

Without realizing it, the blue knight’s feet walked straight into the cafe. With an awkward stench in the air, Sayaka’s robotic body sat in front of the raven-haired magical girl, who eyed her suspiciously. 

 

“I did not expect you here, Sayaka Miki,” Homura said diligently, “May I ask why?” Her eyebrows furrowed toward the justice maniac. 

 

“I was doing patrols, unlike a certain  _ someone _ ,” She chastised her, “But I saw you here, in that skimpy outfit.” 

 

“You really don’t like me, do you, Sayaka Miki?” Homura put her cup down, and stared at the two blue gems called ‘eyes’. 

 

The knight scratched her head in thought, but quickly gave up as she saw Homura’s velvet eyes staring deep into her soul. “No. I really don’t.”

 

“Why not?” Homura asked, curiously. 

 

“There’s something about you that I don’t like. I don’t know what it is...But I just don’t like it. It’s like...you got something  _ demonic  _ in you.”

 

“I see. That is quite a problem.”

 

“What?” Sayaka looked at her suspiciously.

 

“Nothing,” Homura cut the conversation off. 

 

“Hey,” The blue haired girl spoke hesitantly, “Why are you here?” She pointed at Homura’s white strap pajamas, which were almost revealing. 

 

“I needed a breath of fresh air from being stuck indoors.” Homura continued to sip her black coffee, albeit slowly. “Is there something you wish to say to me?”

 

Sayaka sighed, and looked at her companion with a rather stern expression, “Why won’t you help?” Homura looked at her strangely. “Why won’t you help exterminate the Wraiths? That’s what we’re here for, aren’t we? And we need all the help we can get when we go fight the Blight of Kazamino.”

 

“Are you...possibly trying to recruit me?” An air of confusion found its way on Homura’s normally stoic face. Albeit that only lasted for a moment, “I thought you hated me?”

 

“There’s a difference between dislike and hate. I started the same way with Kyouko, y’know,” Sayaka smiled, which took the raven off-balance, “I think you and I can be friends. You have that same air Kyouko had a while back.” The blue-haired girl giggled at Homura’s perplexed expression.

 

_ Friends?  _ Homura frowned at the thought as she observed Sayaka. Her short blue hair reminded her about a time long since past. Or maybe of a time that never happened at all. She couldn’t remember anymore. 

 

“So whaddya say?” Sayaka held out her hand toward her stoic companion, “Wanna save the world?”

 

Homura almost chuckled, “Was that some kind of proposal?” Her demeanor softened, as she smiled, “I’ll think about it. Thank you, Sayaka Miki-san.”

 

“You can drop the honorifics, y’know.” Sayaka added. 

 

“Fine then, Sayaka.” Her smile surprised Sayaka, who awkwardly took a look at her watch. 

 

“Oh geez, look at the time, I have to get going before my parents yell at me! Haha!” She waved her arms around like a panicked zebra, “It was good talking to you Homura, I feel a lot better.”

 

_ No honorifics either? How sly, Sayaka... _ Homura waved goodbye at her newfound friend who left in a hurry. 

 

Homura took a sip of her coffee again, before grimacing at a strange taste. It was like iron swirled with the bitter taste of coffee. The raven-haired girl looked down on her warm drink worryingly, and found something. 

 

She cringed at the sight of a piece of flesh floating around in her blackened drink. It was a part of her inner gums that sawm around the black sea. “Dammit…” The Demon cursed under her breath, “It’s happening faster than I thought...”

 

[] []

[] []

 

The next day was a bright and shiny morning. School was closed for the weekend, and lots of middle schoolers were found in Karaoke bars, cafe shops, and especially the malls. 

 

Mami Tomoe and Sayaka Miki found themselves in a book shop. Sayaka shuffled through the manga shop as Mami rolled her eyes. “Sayaka-san, don’t you think you should read something a little more invigorating?” She asked, pointing at the  _ Rising of the Shield Hero  _ manga volume the blue-haired magical girl held in her hands. 

 

“Nope!” She said cheerfully, “It’s a pretty good manga.” 

 

“I hope you don’t splurge on manga and on music CDs…” The blonde sighed, “Kyouko’s late…”

 

Right on cue, a girl in a green sweater called out to them, waving what looked like a small black box. Her fanged smile permeated through the calm aura of the bookstore with her upbeat personality. “Sayaka! Mami!”

 

Mami facepalmed, as everyone around them turned to look at the redhead. “Kyouko-san, I thought I told you not to make a ruckus indoors. Use your indoor voice.”

 

“Man you totally cramp my style, Senpai~” Kyouko teased the blonde, who smiled in return. 

 

“I’m just trying to put you on the right path, Kouhai~”

 

“So what’s got you all ruffled up, Kyouko?” Sayaka asked, as she shuffled through the manga she was about to buy. “Better not be something stupid again like getting into a fight with the toughest delinquent from the neighboring school…”

 

“Nah, he was weak. Way too weak!” The two other magical girls looked at the redhead with doubt, “Ah, but wait! That’s not the point. You won’t believe what I got from Homura! Take a guess!” She swirled her hands around the black box she carried, excited about the inner contents. 

 

“You,” Sayaka pointed at her fanged friend, “Got a present from Homura? The world is ending!” 

 

“Shut up! She’s freakishly awesome!” Kyouko widened her smile as she opened the box, “Check it out!!!”

 

Mami and Sayaka whispered to each other. They snickered, as Sayaka said, “Think Homura domesticated her with food?”

 

“With her personality, most likely.”

 

“Guys?” Kyouko tilted her head in confusion, “Aren’t you gonna check it out?”

 

“Fine~” Sayaka dragged her feet and looked inside the box, preparing for something stupid, until she saw a boatload of Grief Cubes on top of each other. “Holy mother of-”

 

“That’s….a lot more than I’ve ever expected…”

 

“Hells yeah! With this, we’ll have a breeze against the Blight of Kazamino!” Kyouko nearly screamed with enthusiasm. 

 

“W-wow…” Sayaka rubbed her eyes in disbelief, “H-how the hell did you convince Homura to...give them to ya?”

 

“I got on her good side. She does have one, y’know, Sayaka!” Kyouko’s comment hit right at the blue-hair’s heart. 

 

“Y-yeah,” The knight agreed awkwardly. 

 

“With this...we can go within a week….Now we can plan out our attack!” Mami suddenly looked excited. “By the way, what did Akemi-san say about helping us?”

 

Kyouko scratched her head in awkward silence, but Sayaka spoke up, “She said she’ll think about it.”

 

“Huh?! When’d you ask her?!” Kyouko almost yelled. 

 

“She was at the cafe last night,” Sayaka said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. 

 

_ Huh...Did she go somewhere after I left? Weird.  _ Kyouko thought to herself. 

 

“Either way, Akemi-san lended us a hand, so we shouldn’t ask too much of her when she gave us this many grief cubes,” The twin-tailed blonde sighed, “Still, I really wish she’d fight with us from time to time. Especially since she has the most experience out of all of us…”

 

[] []

[] []

 

“Homura!” A little girl’s squeal rushed to The Demon’s ears. With a calm grace, Homura turned around to face her opponent. 

 

“Ah. Yuma Chitose. ” Her business-like demeanor chilled the young green-haired girl to the bone.  _ Yuma Chitose. One of Kyouko’s old friends. _

 

“S-stop what you’re doing!”

 

A wide malevolent smile spread across The Demon’s face. “What exactly are you talking about?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finished this a little earlier than before. I just realized Madoka doesn’t appear at all this chapter. 
> 
> So I added a bit of mystery from before. I wanted the readers to guess what was going to happen. 
> 
> That and I added a cliffhanger. I like cliffhangers. 
> 
> There’s also a distinct lack of action lately since I’ve been focusing more on the relationships between the characters. That and...Homura’s way too tame at the moment. 
> 
> Gotta fix that.


	5. Chapter 5: It's all Part of the Plan

“What exactly are you talking about, Yuma Chitose?” The Demon’s voice trailed off into a whisper. Her bright pink-violet eyes emanated from the ever-creeping darkness that surrounded Homura. 

 

“You know what I’m talking about!” Yuma yelled, as she raised her hammer-like weapon, ready for battle. The Demon stared at the magical girl in slight disbelief, quickly composing herself and letting out a dry laugh. 

 

Without warning, the raven sprouted black fallen angel-like wings, and charged toward her younger opponent. 

 

Yuma was unable to react as she was lifted up into the air with unmatched speed, and dropped her weapon. The green-haired girl found herself pummeled through a glass window of a skyscraper and into an empty office filled with desks and chairs. Intense sound rang in her ears, she felt blood drip slowly out of her ears. “U-ugh…”

 

“What were you thinking?!” Homura raised herself elegantly into the air, halted only by the ceiling, “If you had any brain cells in that skull of yours, you’d make it seem like you were completely oblivious of your surroundings, gathering enough  _ competent  _ magical girls to rebel against me, right under my nose. That could’ve very well have been possible, but instead you allowed your own pride to take over.” She hovered toward Yuma, and healed her wounds. 

 

However, Yuma still shook with fear, as The Demon stared deep into her very soul. “I would kill you right now, but I still have plans for you.” 

 

[] []

[] []

 

“So what you’re saying is, there’s this super ultra powerful wraith in the middle of the Blight of Kazamino?” Kyouko broke apart a piece of pocky in her mouth. She sat cross-legged across from Mami and Sayaka. 

 

“It’s called a Moksha Wraith. It’s the strongest of Wraiths. It’s the only explanation for such an abundance of despair. The wraith so strong it can completely steal the life force of anyone around it. Including magical girls.” The blonde gave a lecture about how a Moksha Wraith worked, clearly into the ‘senpai’ role. Kyouko was obviously bored, but Sayaka listened with undivided attention. “If we enter the Blight’s core by avoiding as many Wraiths as possible, and kill the Moksha Wraith, everything else that was created by that creature will die.”

 

“So a hit-and-run kind of plan?” Kyouko stretched her arms in boredom.

 

“I think it’s more hidden ninja kind of thing,” Sayaka gave her own input. 

 

“Since they are least active during the day, we’ll infiltrate the Blight at dawn. We’ll meet up this Sunday. Don’t be late,” Mami Tomoe puffed up her chest with pride.

 

“Isn’t that when Madoka goes on her ballerina competition?” Sayaka voiced her concerns. 

 

“In your dorky terms, Sayaka,” Kyouko raised her arms, mimicking the stance of a superhero, “Justice never sleeps! Hahahha!”

 

Kyouko’s declaration embarrassed Sayaka, and she pouted like an angry cat. The oldest magical girl interrupted their little feud, “Have you heard anything about Akemi-san? Is she joining us?” Tomoe looked visibly worried. 

 

“No, I haven’t heard anything from her. I guess she’s not going to join us…” The redhead’s mood fell, while the blue knight looked a bit disappointed. 

 

“Well, we still got some time before then. Maybe she’ll say something,” Mami clasped her hands in a hopeful manner, “Let’s go ask her tomorrow.”

 

Her underclassmen weren’t convinced. Sayaka had a visibly disappointed look on her face that was borderline angry. 

 

“Hey Mami,” Kyouko nearly glared at her senior, “Why haven’t you been letting Nagisa in on our Wraith hunts? She’s a competent magical girl, y’know.” Her legs unfolded themselves, tired from sitting cross-legged. 

 

“She has to study for her next test-”

 

“That’s not an excuse, Mami. Just because she’s a kid doesn’t mean she’s any less competent than any of us. With her on board we can make up the lack of firepower even without Homes.” She let the nickname slip right off her tongue. 

 

“ _ Homes _ ?” Sayaka snickered, “Since when did you start calling her that?” 

 

“Oy, don’t change the subject!” Kyouko’s puffed her face in anger, but no one took her seriously. 

 

“Sigh...I just don’t want Nagisa to fight our wars. She’s younger than any of us. Don’t you feel the same way about Yuma?” Mami rebutted. 

 

“Hey, I’m not her mother, alright?” Kyouko argued back. Her veins popped out of her forehead, and gritted her teeth. She was extremely protective over the little green-haired kid. Kyouko projected her younger sister into Yuma, for better or for worse. “No need to bring her into this conversation.”

 

“That’s exactly how I feel,  _ Sakura-san _ ,” The drill-haired senior placed her foot down, “Yuma nor Nagisa need to be involved in our battles. They are too young, and too inexperienced to come with us.”

 

“You guys are arguing even though you agree…” Sayaka commented as she raised her hand slowly, “But I really do think we should bring Yuma and Nagisa into this. It’s not that I like bringing them into dangerous fights, but the Blight is extremely huge, and it’s growing by the day. If we don’t teach them how to fight in situations like these, they’ll never be able to grow up into heroes!” 

 

“I didn’t expect this from you, Sayaka-san,” Mami’s voice was cold and empty.

 

“Shut up Sayaka, you don’t even know what you’re talking about!”

 

The blue-haired knight nervously gulped and spoke, “At least let them decide. It’s their decision, and you can’t force them to always follow you. You two aren’t their parents.”

 

“Oy, who told you to butt in-” Kyouko was about to blow off on Sayaka, but then saw the expression on her face. She saw Sayaka’s gaze staring right at her once-fiery red eyes. “A-ah. I...get what you mean,” Kyouko reluctantly backed down. 

 

“You too Mami-senpai, you should apologize.” The blue-haired girl’s cheeks frowned on the older of the three girls. She grabbed the once-angry twin-tailed Mami by the hands, along with Kyouko in a sports-like manner. “Let’s forget about our fight and ask Nagisa and Yuma if they want to participate! I’ll protect them if anything happens! You have my word!”

 

“Sigh…” Mami facepalmed, and lost interest in arguing. “I suppose...we could just ask them. There’s no point in continuing to argue over the freedom of the girls.” 

 

“Glad you guys could see it my way!” Sayaka puffed her chest out proudly, but Kyouko and Mami made a grim face. 

 

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[] []

 

Crows circled the dusk before the night, cawing around the Devil who showed herself before the curtain of darkness. She donned her once-nostalgic magical girl attire, one with her bow rather than shield. Something inside her pushed her to fight wraiths that day. Was it because of Kyouko? Sayaka? Or maybe Yuma?

 

_ Who cares,  _ She thought, as she raised her dark-purple bow with a large black flower on top, and fired dozens of arrows that mowed down an army of Wraiths. 

 

Little by little, her power seeped from out of her body. It was a dark miasma that slowly escaped from the cracks of her skin. She looked over at the excess energy, and saw it escape into the atmosphere. 

 

Homura gazed at the sight, watching it slither through the air, almost as though it was conscious. 

 

She reached out with a hand of shadows that twirled and danced around the slithering miasma, and latched on to its foggy contents. “Hm…” She hummed, “It’s time to go.” The dark fog dissipated as it was reabsorbed back into Homura’s body. 

 

As her tainted black wings hovered above the sky, a sea of black mist was left in her wake. 

 

[] []

[] []

 

It was early Sunday morning, right before dawn appeared. All three veteran magical girls were donned in their battle attire, waiting for two people. 

 

“Can’t believe Yuma said yes…” Kyouko muttered softly and sheepishly, “I really wanted her not to go…” 

 

“Sayaka-san can really move people’s hearts...even Nagisa wants to join.” The blonde nearly facepalmed. 

 

“What can I say? Everybody loves a hero!” The self-proclaimed hero boldly stated. 

 

Two giggling voices echoed through the brightening dawn. The three magical girls perked their heads up, and saw Nagisa and Yuma together. 

 

Both girls should’ve been nervous, but they both had each other for support. “Besides,” Nagisa said, “I got an awesome senpai!” 

 

“Hey look!” Yuma yelled, “Kyouko-oneechan!!!” She yelled, as she waved her arms up, nearly touching the sky. 

 

“Ahhh,” The redhead was visibly embarrassed, “That’s Yuma alright...so embarrassing…” 

 

The two groups ran up to each other. Everybody smiled right before the big battle. 

 

What they didn’t realize, however, was the giant flock of crows hovering toward the giant bright sun, threatening to encase it in a never-ending darkness. 

 

“Homes isn’t coming, is she?” Kyouko looked up, with a visibly melancholic tone in her voice. 

 

“ _ The coward _ …” Sayaka muttered just low enough so Kyouko wouldn’t hear her. “I guess not…”

 

“Don’t worry,” Mami butted in, “With all these grief cubes, this will surely be a piece of cake.”

 

...Right?

 

The Holy Quintet disappeared into the horizon, and into the Blight of Kazamino. 

 

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Junko watched her daughter spin gleefully as she tried on a new white dress, which was based off of a beautiful white swan. Madoka’s hair was tied in a ponytail, and her small shoulders were exposed from the dress. 

 

It was time for the Ballerina competition. A mixture of emotions swirled inside Madoka, mostly from excitement and nervousness. She couldn’t wait to go up to the stage, but she also wanted to see everyone’s dances. 

 

It would be very memorable experience. 

 

[] []

[] []

 

A clothesless Homura saw herself on a full body mirror in her giant bathroom, reformatted by her immense magic. Her empty eyes gazed upon the splotched and burnt skin splattered around her entire body, just narrowly avoiding her neck and arms. 

 

Her frail body was sick and on the breaking point. She waved a hand over the series of hives stuck on her otherwise doll-like body, and they all disappeared without a moment’s notice. 

 

With magic, a dress made by the many black feathers of crows materialized on Homura’s body. It made her seem magnificent and powerful.

 

“It’s time,” She muttered as she disappeared into a rupture of darkness.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One of my editors wasn’t here and the other was busy, so I will probably re-upload this once my editor looks over the chapter. 
> 
> This chapter took forever, and I hope the quality didn’t go down. Finals can really punch you in the gut. Seriously. 
> 
> Sorry for the wait. Once again, I will reupload a second draft of this sometime in the future.


	6. Chapter 6: Blight of Kazamino Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally! Reached back to the original chapter number 6!!! And we finally move on from the extended prologue to the Blight of Kazamino arc.

Homura twirled herself around her black swan attire, and smiled in front of the mirror. She was mesmerizing, and her eyes were filled with a strange sense of maturity even though she was only at most fourteen years old. 

 

“The competition is about to start in just a few hours.” A voice overshadowed her. 

 

“Indeed. Though I thought you were going to perform instead,” Homura kept twirling her dress, fascinated by its contents. “To think Good-for-nothing won’t even attend her own show.”

 

“Today is a very important day. It’s something my children won’t be able to handle.” 

 

“Pft,” Homura scoffed, “Go ahead and do what you want,  _ Mother _ . I’ll be here, with the Goddess.”

  
  


[][]

[][]

The Holy Quintet donned their magical girl attire and moved swiftly out of sight, away from the public eye. They jumped from building the building. They raced against the waking sun that rose beyond the horizon. 

 

The closer they got to the Blight, the more miasma they could see. It was thick and sickening. Yuma and Nagisa felt incredibly nauseous. “It’s getting bad…” Kyouko said, noticeably less energetic than usual. “Even during early morning, I’m already feeling this...sick…”

 

“We might have to clean the evil magic here. This could be a lot more urgent than I thought,” Mami muttered, worried about the outcome. “I knew it was bad, but to think it got this horrible...”

 

“Don’t worry, we’ll beat the crap out of that leader Wraith. We’re heroes, after all!” Sayaka made a heroic pose. Kyouko couldn’t help but laugh awkwardly. 

 

“Hahaha you dork!”

 

“What’d you say?!”

 

“Kyouko-oneechan! Watch out!” Yuma jumped toward Kyouko with enough force to push her out of the way. A large beam of concentrated darkness was about to impale Kyouko through the chest if it wasn’t for the green-haired magical girl.

 

The beam narrowly missed a building, and harmlessly reached toward the sky. “Everyone! On your guard!” Mami yelled out. 

 

“Ugh...thanks for the save, Yuma.” Kyouko scratched her head, and readied her spear, “Let’s save the day!”

 

“There’s a dozen wraiths headed towards that family!” Nagisa yelled out. Below them were two parents, with a group of five children being surrounded by a dozen wraiths. They continued walking, naive to the danger. 

 

“Tiro Finale!” Tomoe immediately brought out her signature attack, and wiped out half of the wraiths. Thankfully, the others scattered before they got too close. 

 

“Keep the pressure on! There’s more incoming!” Sayaka yelled. Immediately afterward, Kyouko jumped down from the building and onto the concrete. She pushed headfirst toward the front lines. 

 

Concerned, Yuma called out, “Kyouko-oneechan?! What are you doing?! Come ba-”

 

“I got this! Don’t worry. Nothing but a couple of leftover wraiths is all!” Overconfidence was the redhead’s weak point. Right behind her, an Enlightened Wraith spawned from a shadow. 

 

Then, it used a unique ability. It was something Wraiths shouldn’t be able to do. From its back, tendrils of darkness ensnared Kyouko, and threatened to tear her apart. “Agh!!!” She cried out, “The hell is this shit?!”

 

Immediately, Sayaka swooped in and slashed about the hands of shadows. Kyouko - free from the wraith’s grasp - pointed her spear toward the strange monster, and stabbed it through its core. “Can’t believe I was saved by you.”

 

“Think nothing of it!” Sayaka teased. 

 

“Be careful! These wraiths have weird abilities!” The blonde veteran yelled out, “Some of them can warp around too! Like they are extremely fast!!!”

 

“Or they can teleport…” Kyouko added. 

 

“I can stun them with my horn!” Nagisa yelled, “Cover your ears!”

 

On cue, everyone covered their ears, and a large “HAAAAAAAAH!” emanated from Nagisa’s magical horn that completely distorted the unique wraiths. 

 

Within a few moments, the Holy Quintet raged fire against the strange wraiths, and destroyed them. 

 

However, the thick miasma kept giving birth to more and more wraiths. The Holy Quintet couldn’t keep up, and spent more and more of their reserves. 

 

“This is getting bad!” Yuma yelled out, “They’ll keep appearing if we don’t destroy the core of the Blight!”

 

“You heard the little lady! We got bigger fish to fry!” Kyouko pointed her spear toward the direction of the Blight, “That’s what we gotta focus on!”

 

“But what about the people! They’re gonna get caught in the crossfi-” Sayaka couldn’t bear letting innocent lives get caught in the Wraiths’ web of despair, but Kyouko snarled at her.

 

“I get what you’re trying to say! I do, but that’s why we gotta clear out the big bad wraith as soon as possible! Otherwise we’d be in a stalemate!” Kyouko announced. “Stick to the plan!”

 

[] []

[] []

 

It was the big day. Tons of middle schoolers were clad in beautiful ballet dresses, ready to perform in front of several judges. 

 

Madoka was but one person in this nation-wide competition. She donned a white swan-like dress, with her shoulders exposed and golden patterns on her primarily white dress. Her eyes turned restlessly across her surroundings, in an attempt to spot Homura Akemi. She heard Homura was also in the roster.  _ Is she here? Can I have someone to talk to?  _ The pink-haired girl thought shyly. She knew almost no one there, and the pressure of performing well had already gotten to her. 

 

Madoka couldn’t find her raven-haired friend. She gave up in silence, until she felt a tap on her shoulder. “Hello, Madoka,” a familiar voice rang in Madoka’s ears. 

 

“Homura-chan!” She turned around gleefully, “I’m glad I have someone here!” 

 

“It’s good to see you here, as well,” Homura agreed, her earring swayed, and Madoka caught sight of that. 

 

“You could’ve told me you were gonna be here too! You didn’t even tell me you did ballerina!!!” Madoka sulked, “We could’ve practiced together!”

 

“Haha,” The raven-haired girl laughed dryly with visible bags under her eyes, “I wanted to surprise you, Madoka.” There was something eerie behind those words. Madoka took notice of that, and smiled awkwardly. 

 

“You’re pretty mysterious, Homura-chan,” The pink-haired girl chose her words carefully, “Nobody can tell what you’re thinking.”

 

With a smug tone, Homura responded with a, “Is that so?”

 

[] []

[] []

  
  


A winged silhouette watched the two girls in the shadows, above a building. Black feathers fell from her presence, which marked the arrival of an evil omen. 

 

A smile crept up through her expression right before she took off in high speed. 

 

The wind bounced off of the silhouette, as she slowly reached mach level speed. Everyone below her was ignorant of her appearance, as if she was invisible. She headed straight toward the Blight of Kazamino. 

 

[] []

[] []

 

The Holy Quintet drew closer and closer to the core of the Blight, but the closer they got, the stronger the miasma became. It was fortunate that Nagisa cast a forcefield around the team, but that was chipping away at her magic reserves. 

 

One good thing from this ordeal - the Grief Cubes were handy to have. They still had plenty left. “Man, thank God Homura gave us a crap ton of Grief Cubes...otherwise we’d be running dangerously low by now…” Kyouko was relieved.

 

“Yeah, but we are running low on our own stash!” Sayaka countered. 

 

“It’s up ahead!” Yuma yelled, “There’s a bunch of Enlightened Wraiths guarding the entrance!”

 

Up ahead, there was a massive crater that had pulverized any sign of concrete or civilization. All that was left was sand - like a desert. There were strange pillars that surrounded a dug-up grave. It was a strange and eerie sight.

 

Five Enlightened spawned beneath the Holy Quintet, but Mami wrapped them in ribbons, “Now’s your chance! Attack!”

 

Sayaka and Kyouko charged headfirst, taking care of those in the front line, while Yuma jumped straight in the middle, and Nagisa fired her horn from afar. 

 

It caught the attention of the Guard Wraiths. “Remember our plan! Sayaka, Yuma, take as many Grief Cubes and go!” Mami commandeered the group, and split apart the Quintet into two groups. 

 

The first group: Mami, Kyouko and Nagisa distracted all the Wraiths outside, as a way to prevent any intervention against Sayaka and Yuma. 

 

The second group was Sayaka and Yuma, who infiltrated the Core and their objective: Defeat the Moksha Wraith and destroy the Blight once and for all. 

 

It was an all or nothing strategy. Mami used her ribbons to hold the charging wraiths in place while Sayaka and Yuma sneaked behind them. 

 

Now it was up to Sayaka and Yuma to finish the job. 

 

As they entered through the invisible barrier, the duo found themselves in a strange world. The air was free as the sand from the desert dunes fell from the sky. Tons of runes were ascribed on the pillars. Sayaka couldn’t help but look at them.

 

“The...Eternal Feminine...I’m able to read this?!” Sayaka jumped back, “What the hell?”

 

“Watch out!” Yuma charged toward Sayaka, and blocked a form made of shadows. “...what is that…”

 

In front of them, was a massive female-esque figure that hanged upside down. She flew right below the barrier, with her gears above her overturned skirt. The Moksha Wraith laughed while it flapped its blue dress. Its horns across its porcelain-white face protruded against the wind. “HAhahahahaha!!! Haha!!!” 

 

“That looks nothing like a wraith…” Sayaka couldn’t fathom what was in front of her. 

 

Off in the distance, two hands clapped at the scene that unfolded. A smile crossed the silhouette’s face. Black feathers fell from the night sky. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are some details you’ll have to read inbetween the lines, considering I want to write this story with a tinge of mystery to it. 
> 
> Not good with large scale battles...so hopefully this will teach me a few tricks. 
> 
> I have to thank equach for getting my ass in gear. I was honestly getting lazy and of course, college got in the way. 
> 
> Hopefully my writing hasn’t gone stale. Good thing I got everything planned out.


	7. Chapter 7: Blight of Kazamino Part 2

The headlights above the stage shined brightly. A red curtain pulled itself upwards and slowly revealed a raven-haired girl with a beautiful black raven-esque dress. Homura Akemi had this alluring aura around her. It attracted even the innocent Madoka. 

 

She raised the tips of her dress slightly upward and bowed respectively. “I will be performing the Swan Lake,” Homura added, right before she started to twirl. 

 

Madoka watched as her mysterious friend flaunted her skills in ballet. She felt mesmerized and couldn’t look away. Even the judges weren’t able to glance away. 

 

It was as if Homura’s dress itself vibrated with her heartbeat, as it swayed back and forth beautifully. The flocks of feathers surrounded the air around her almost like a gentle wind. 

 

She was an unstoppable force. To top it all off, she was the opening act. 

 

“W-wow…” Madoka couldn’t help but stutter, “I always knew Homura-chan was pretty but...she’s beautiful…”

 

During a twirl, Madoka could’ve sworn Homura looked straight at her with a wide smile. 

 

The lights seemed to dance with Homura, as they blinked back and forth in sync with her movements. Whatever kind of training she did, it must’ve been strict and downright insane. 

 

Not even the judges had seen this kind of potential, this kind of talent. Homura Akemi was a ballet prodigy. It was her passion - her dream before she met Madoka, and she had finally accomplished it in this paper-thin world of hers. And she shared that passion with her beloved Madoka Kaname. 

 

Homura Akemi was indeed, truly happy. 

 

After a whole decade of losing everything and everyone, only to repeat that same cycle over and over and over again, the only thing she wanted to do once she broke free was, of course, dance her heart away. 

 

She wanted to dance her heart away to the ever-flowing passionate music of the Swan Lake. 

 

What’s a Temptress of Desire if she can’t follow through with her own selfish wishes and selfish love?

 

Her utopia was her own form of salvation and damnation. 

 

[] []

[] []

 

“Happiness stems from desire, Madoka. Not from Law and Order,” The shadow entered her soliloquy. “Love is selfish and chaotic. It is not like a gentle breeze that caresses your skin, but a typhoon, one of an unstoppable force. Hope and Despair pale in comparison to it.”

 

The shadow crossed her legs, and watched the battle unfold below her. “Hoh~” She scoffed, “They’re actually doing quite decently against the Walpurgisnacht Wraith. Their affinity to fight against it must’ve been much better than mine. If I knew about this...I would’ve tried just a bit harder to have kept Sayaka Miki and Yuma Chitose alive in those loops. I am surprised.”

 

She spawned her previous soul gem. It was shattered into pieces a long time ago, and lacked its once-vibrant violet glow. “I wonder if I could even still call myself Homura Akemi?”

 

The Dark Orb rose from her free palm, shining proudly against its predecessor, which was now hopelessly gone. Gone for eternity. 

 

She glanced downward, and saw Sayaka Miki reading Witch Runes. It was a language only witches and those who transcended could read. “Hm. Just as I suspected, she’s started to  _ remember _ .” 

 

[] []

[] []

 

“Gah!!!” The blue-haired knight just barely managed to barrel-roll out of the Moshka Wraith’s beam. The strange pillars came crashing down, and it took all of Sayaka’s willpower to dodge the incoming debris. “This girl’s wayyyy tougher than she looks! And that’s saying something!”

 

“Do wraiths even have genders?!” Yuma couldn’t help but retort as she deflected an incoming wave of familiars. 

 

A familiar sneaked up behind the green-haired girl, and raised its stake, about to stab her right through the neck. But it was slashed horizontally in half, by Sayaka Miki

 

“Thanks, Sayaka-oneechan.”

 

“That’s what partners are for!”

 

The Wraith kept spawning strange silhouette familiars without end. “This must’ve been how it kept growing..We have to get on top of it. Yuma, think you could send me flying over there?”

 

“I-I think so! I can try!”

 

“I’ll have to rely on you to handle all the familiars and that creepy giant Wraith’s attack, but if the plan goes smoothly, I’ll be able to destroy it from the inside!” Sayaka made a fist bump notion, which Yuma returned. 

 

“Let’s do our best! Let’s go, Sayaka-oneechan!”

 

Sayaka put distance between her and Yuma, and ran straight toward her. 

 

The green-haired girl raised her hammer-esque weapon. Sayaka’s boots landed on its white surface, and with sudden force, was propelled toward the top of the Moshka Wraith. 

 

Their teamwork was outstanding. 

 

The gust of wind pushed against Sayaka’s cheeks, her hair flowed against the air. She looked just like a hero. 

 

Her feet stepped right on the gears of the Wraith. “Hey there, ugly wraith. The view from up here is awesome! I can see why you’re always in a great mood. But I’m gonna have to turn that smile into scrap metal!”

 

She jumped inside the gears, and found herself in a miniature labyrinth. Sayaka was directly inside the Wraith. It was filled with a dark miasma, but she cut through it with her magic-imbued sword. The blue-haired knight didn’t give an inch to the evil creature. 

 

Sayaka found herself in night-time Mitakihara City, but something unnerved her. 

 

In Sayaka’s world, the moon was always a half-circle, but here, it was full. “What a weird-looking moon...It looks like a sphere.”

 

“Are these...her memories?”

 

She saw the night sky slowly turn gray, filled with clouds and rain. The wind picked up, and buildings were crumbling by the flying debris caused by the chaotic typhoon. 

 

Sayaka heard laughing - the same as the Wraith. Up above her, she saw the same Wraith she was fighting earlier ago, but to her surprise, a familiar raven-haired figure jumped toward it, and fired the incoming familiars with her machine-gun. 

 

“Homura?!” She called out, “Hey, Homura!!!” Her voice didn't reach her. “Oh...right, I forgot, this is a memory. Dammit. But why did Homura pop up in this creepy thing’s memory?”

 

The blue girl watched the struggle against Homura and the Wraith. She noticed that Homura wasn’t using her bow, and instead was using military weaponry. “Huh...weird.”

 

There was something different about this Akemi Homura. It was something unique. No, it wasn’t unique. In fact, this Homura appeared cleaner to Sayaka. This Homura’s spirit was untainted, but with a will of steel.  

 

She just seemed...clearer, and this captivated Sayaka. This Homura was a hero. 

 

But fate was not kind. A huge building flew straight toward the raven-haired veteran. There was no way to escape, and she took the brunt of it. 

 

Stuck in the debris, Homura watched her arch-nemesis float above her. It mocked her. Her soul gem on her palm slowly started to darken, until a pink light shined before her. 

 

It was Madoka. 

 

A look of defeat overwhelmed Homura, as Madoka muttered her inaudible words. 

 

Homura cried and cried. She pleaded with Madoka not to make a wish, but Madoka wouldn’t listen. 

 

That day, Madoka created a heaven for all magical girls. All except one: Homura Akemi. 

 

This was Homura’s inferno - her hell. 

 

A look of sudden clarity spread across Sayaka’s face. “I...I remember...everything…”

 

_ “I knew it,”  _ The shadow thought,  _ “My memory manipulation is  _ **_imperfect_ ** _.”  _

 

[] []

[] []

 

“She’s been in there forever! I don’t know if I can last much longer!!!” Yuma cried out, “Sayaka-oneechan!!”

 

A shadow duplicate of Kyouko Sayaka readied her spear against Yuma, and charged. Yuma managed to block the brunt of it, but the sheer force propelled her backwards, straight into the final pillar. It crashed down, trapping her in a prison of broken cement. 

 

“Saya-” The familiars that charged at her disappeared into black mist, and the Moshka Wraith came crashing down. 

 

On cue, the flapping white cape of the blue knight danced in the wind, but Yuma noticed something. Sayaka had the expression of someone concerned, someone worried. 

 

“Yuma, we need to hurry. Homura might see us soo-”

 

Without warning, Yuma jumped toward her ally, and brought down her hammer with pure killing intent. 

 

“W-what the hell are you doing, Yuma?!”  _ Something’s wrong! The barrier isn’t letting up! Shit! It was all Homura’s doing!! I fell for her trap hook, line, and sinker! _

 

A crowd of black feathers gently fell from the sandy sky, and a figure raised itself from the coffin. The Shadow was The Demon herself - Homura Akemi. 

 

“What the hell did you do to Yuma?!”

 

“There were a few magical girls that managed to escape my memory manipulation, but that only means they avoided it - not that they broke free.”

 

“So basically, you wanted to see if someone could break free from your creepy magic?” Sayaka couldn’t help but clench her fists, “So all of this, just to get me to remember?”

 

“If you didn’t remember, then it would’ve been fine. But since you  _ do  _ remember, I have no choice but to go to the next step of my plan.” The Demon shrugged.

 

“Villains sure love to gloat, so tell me, what’s this big plan of yours?!” 

 

“That’s for me to know, and for you to experience, Sayaka Miki.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those of you who read my first draft of this story, you already know what I’m planning.
> 
> For you newbies, wow. I was not expecting to get caught up in this chapter. I went guns a blazing, and it didn’t feel too forced either. 
> 
> Hope you guys enjoyed it, I probably took a bit too long for this chapter, but enjoy!


	8. Chapter 8: Blight of Kazamino Part 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: If you look closely at Homura’s soul gem during Rebellion (on the outside world) you’ll see that it was lobotomized (there was some kind of spike going through her soul gem). I also read somewhere that the Incubators caused all sorts of horrible experiments on Homura’s mind right before Madoka and co. got to her. 
> 
> So all in all, Homura’s mental state grew pretty damn horrible. Sorta wish they portrayed it better in Rebellion though. (Then again it was a movie, so I can’t complain). 
> 
> Which explains her sudden transformation to The Demon. I like to believe that the Homura we saw in Rebellion (during the dream sequence) was nothing more than the last ‘sane’ part of Homura’s psyche. 
> 
> Very sad....Ahem, sorry for the rant. Story...BEGIN!

She felt an instinctive fear as she stood face-to-face against The Demon. The features of her opponent were clad in overbearing power. Sayaka could see a confident smirk on the raven-haired Demon. 

 

For all of her previous screaming, now all she could muster was a nervous grunt, as her feet were glued shut to the sand beneath her. “Where’d your heroic confidence from earlier go?” The Demon mockingly asked. Her black wings stretched even further.

 

Sayaka raised her sword.

 

“Are you going to fight me?” The Demon asked, unimpressed. She noticed the blue knight’s shaking long ago. “It’s useless, you know.”

 

“Not as long as I have hope! Hope never falters in the face of despair!” Sayaka valiantly yelled. 

 

“But I am not despair, Sayaka Miki. No, my emotion is more passionate than hope, much deeper than despair.  **_Love_ ** !” She relished that fact. 

 

That confession made Sayaka grit her teeth. “That’s some sick twisted love you have there.”

 

“Perhaps,” The Demon shrugged, “Perhaps not. It’s clearly not an emotion you, Madoka, nor anyone in this world could possibly hope to understand!”

 

“I used to respect you, Homura. I used to look up to you-”

 

“Oh please, you never did,” The Demon corrected her. “You never did. It was always something with you, Sayaka Miki. Even when I was just that braided glasses girl, you always found some fault in me. Something you just  **_had_ ** to complain about.” 

“That doesn’t give you the right to-”

 

“No one gave me the right,” The raven-haired monster corrected her again, “I simply followed my own desires. After all, it’s what Madoka did too.”

 

“Don’t you dare insult Madoka’s methods!” The blue knight brandished her sword against her enemy.

 

The Demon shook her head, “I am not. I am instead praising her for it. Think about it, abandoning everything to save everyone. It’s something only the kind-hearted and strong can do,” there was a twinge of sadness in her tired listless eyes, “Come here, Yuma.” 

 

On cue, the empty Yuma jumped to Homura’s side with her magical girl power. “This girl is very similar to Madoka,” The raven turned Yuma’s cheek, as though inspecting her, “She gave up her life as a human in order to protect Kyouko. Well, unfortunately it was simply a tactic used by one of my enemies to kill Madoka, but that’s not the point. Yuma loved Kyouko so much that she’d give up the hope of a beautiful life for a short and dark one just to keep Kyouko Sakura alive. Not everyone can do that. Not even you, Sayaka Miki.”

 

“LET. YUMA. GO.”

 

“And I tried for ten whole years,” The Demon ignored her, “Only to have Madoka go through a fate worse than death, limited and trapped by her own wish, all because I was too weak to save her. So many chances. I had all the second chances in the world, but I still couldn’t save her. Until now.”

 

“I really...I really tried to believe there was still a chance at saving you. That somewhere in there, you wanted to be saved. Hell, maybe all of this was just to get me here to smack some sense into you. I hope I’m right…”

 

“You are not.”

 

“I know,” She raised her sword once more, and summoned Oktavia behind her. “Be prepared Demon,” Sayaka spoke with determination, “You will die tonight.”

 

The Demon clapped and applauded Sayaka’s declaration of war. 

 

[] []

[] []

 

The rest of the competition paled in comparison to Homura’s ballet performance. They watched her, and in doing so were cursed with nervousness. Their knees shook and their minds clattered as they walked up the stage.  

 

Madoka’s knees grew weak from nervousness and anxiety. She clearly saw the gap between Homura’s own talent and everyone else’s. The raven-haired girl was like a dazzling shooting star.

 

Many girls had quit even before they entered the stage. The overpowering aura of Homura Akemi had struck fear into their hearts. 

 

The performance itself was beautiful, but Madoka couldn’t help but feel her heart twinge with a melancholic sadness. 

 

“And now, up the stage - Madoka Kaname,” The judges called out toward the pink-haired ballerina who yelped in surprise. 

 

“R-right!” Her parents and her little brother raised their arms up in anticipation, excited to see their little girl up on the stage. 

 

Her white heels rolled up the stairs, and into the lit-stage. In the corner of her eye, a familiar silhouette watched her. Homura smiled. 

 

Madoka Kaname was the final act as a beautiful white swan in contrast to Homura Akemi’s first act as a mesmerizing black raven. 

 

The crowd became silent as Madoka raised her chin and arms up. Her thin flesh moved above her arms as she raised her hands ever so solemnly. Her beauty was different from Homura’s who was mesmerizingly captivating. 

 

Madoka’s beauty was of relaxation and tranquility, like a calm sea of positivity. She was fitting for the final performance. 

 

It was the same dance as Homura - Swan Lake, but the aura was completely different. Her performance was holy, as the lights danced around her white and gold dress, her heels slipped effortlessly through the stage below her. 

 

“Outstanding…” Homura muttered with wide eyes. 

 

The raven-haired girl could nearly see the Goddess’s wings sprout from her back. 

She remembered the beautiful sight of a descending Goddess. The Law of Cycles appeared in physical form just for  _ her _ . When the Goddess extended her arms, Homura felt a strange emotion curl up inside of her, and it expanded. It was a small tiny dot of emotion that suddenly bursted into a sea of flames, engulfing every other feeling she had. 

 

And then...She couldn’t hold back anymore. She didn’t care about anything else. All Homura wanted at that moment was to snatch Madoka from the heavens without regard for anything else. She couldn’t help but remember that feeling. 

 

So dazzling. So pure. Homura grit her teeth. Her entire being, from her head to her toes didn’t deserve Madoka. 

 

Homura promised herself that she’d never feel guilt over what she did, but deep down in her heart, regret etched into her soul. It was a bittersweet feeling. 

 

Homura loved her. 

 

[] []

[] []

 

Sayaka focused her eyes on The Demon, but a veil of darkness covered her face. Her soul gem started to glow brightly. “You’re nothing more than a hyped-up witch!” 

 

“Maybe so,” The Demon said, undeterred.

 

“That fake Walpurgisnacht wasn’t the one who made the barrier, was it? It was you, this whole time,” Sayaka noticed the miasma growing stronger with each passing second. It seemed to beat in sync with The Demon’s Dark Orb. 

 

“Do me a favor, Yuma,” The Demon locked eyes with the green magical girl, “When I ring down this barrier, lose your memories of what happened here. In return, believe that you and Sayaka Miki were separated by a massive force of wraith right after you killed the Moshka Wraith.”

 

“Yes…” Yuma said in a dull tone. 

 

“Good.”

 

“Yuma, I know you’re in there somewhere! Don’t let her control you! You’re stronger than that!” Sayaka pleaded. 

 

“Stronger? No no no, Sayaka Miki. She is not. None of you are. All of you relied on one single pure and innocent girl to save your pathetic lives and self-worth. Madoka. This is no dream, Sayaka Miki, and thus, it will not end.”

 

“You don’t get it, Homura. You weren’t there, but when I was with Madoka when she was the Law of Cycles, she was proud. The good we did in the world! You can’t just ignore it!!”

 

“But I can, Sayaka Miki. Those wraiths, they give magical girls a fate worse than witches. I had my emotions eaten once by those filthy creatures, and I was turned into a soulless puppet - a rock undetectable by the Law of Cycles herself. In my world, that won’t happen. None of that will happen,” The Demon sighed, “I wonder, why did she choose a self-righteous moron such as yourself?”

 

“I had enough!” The blue knight charged fiercely toward the smirking Demon who remained still as Yuma jumped in and parried her attack. “Yuma, snap out of it! Or I won’t go easy on you!”

 

It was useless. Yuma kept the same blank stare ever since The Demon took control of her mind. Immediately afterward, Sayaka summoned Oktavia. “Already going all-out? How merciless,” The raven-haired enemy couldn’t help but smirk. 

 

“Coward! Hiding behind all those tricks!!!” 

 

The Demon laughed at the blue knight, “Maybe so. But...If you really want me to fight you, then I suppose I’ll humor you. Yuma, you know your role after this.” Her wings stretched out further, and flapped upwards. Massive gusts of wind violently shook the sand beneath Sayaka’s boots. 

 

The fallen angel swooped down from above with the energy of darkness swirling around her hands sharp enough to cut through steel. Sayaka narrowly ducked the attack, and stabbed through The Demon’s heart multiple times before doing a charged kick right after, which put some distance between the two. 

 

Her enemy looked at her own wounds that covered her heart, and smiled. “That won’t work,” The Demon said as the wounds regenerated on their own. 

 

Oktavia called upon her familiars and sent out orbs of fire against the monster. They all focused their attacks on The Demon, with the fire growing larger and larger each moment. 

 

Sayaka felt a chill run down her spine. 

 

The spirit-fueled fire was dispersed by a powerful tornado. From the ashes stood a perfectly-fine demon, whose body was filled with red tattoos that covered her entire body. They glowed as she charged an attack.

 

With a flick of a finger, dozens of arrows materialized and destroyed each and every single familiar - including Oktavia. Without restraint, Sayaka charged through the remaining smoke, and swung the sword. 

 

The blade reached right at the tip of The Demon’s neck, but the enemy curled her fingers around the edge of the sword, and smiled maniacally with exhausted eyes. “Not yet, Sayaka Miki~”

 

[] []

[] []

 

Sweat dripped from the pink-haired girl’s face. Madoka gasped for air near the end of her performance. She felt tired yet exhilarated - in fact, she felt like she had a chance at winning. 

 

Her performance felt like hours, but she was content. This experience made Madoka happy. 

 

After her dance, the judges spoke amongst themselves. Madoka felt the nervous sweat drip down from her neck. She crossed her fingers as the four judges spoke up. 

 

“First Place, Madoka Kaname!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I cut it off there. Sorry for the lack of details here, but I am having a tough time writing the ballet scenes since I honest-to-god have absolutely no knowledge about ballet. The only real reason why I added it there was because I am trying to implement everything from the Concept Movie so that this story could feel like a ‘genuine’ possible continuation of the series. 
> 
> Though I’m not invested enough to research the ballerina topic, so that’s my fault. 
> 
> Probably added too much dialogue and too little action here (I have the opposite problem in my personal series, the hell?). 
> 
> Hope you guys enjoyed it, cause I sure as hell am (the Homucifer scenes especially). Finally, I managed to show off a bit.


	9. Chapter 9: Blight of Kazamino Part 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got some bad news, and I got some good news, and I got some okay news. 
> 
> First off: Bad news is, I’m in a terrible mood, and I’m going to stay that way for awhile. This might show up in my work. It’s a combination of having my best writer quit on my group (who was also the co-founder of my writing group) due to college reasons. I have no idea how I’ll manage the group without him, and I hope he’ll come back soon. I also failed my driving test, and the lady instructor kept nagging at me even before she entered my car to take the test. (I got automatically disqualified for hitting the curb). 
> 
> Good news is I am finally putting up the story my group have been working on to my new website tfostudios . com and on FictionPress, however I will let you guys know when the story is up. I want to make a promising first introduction chapter. 
> 
> Better news is: More Madoka Magica concept movies!! Yep. September release, which showcases a whole lot more, especially a certain scene I plan to implement in this fanfiction. I also started making an amv called “Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Rejection” with concept movie footage (yes, I named it after my fanfiction). I have a good amount of experience with Sony Vegas. 
> 
> Decent news is - don’t worry, I won’t forget about PMMM Rejection. You guys will get regular updates as you always have been.
> 
> All I ask is that you guys support my group soon.

#  **Blight of Kazamino Part 4**

 

The Demon’s hand curled around the sword, and shattered it, “Not yet, Miki Sayaka,” She kicked the blue-haired magical girl in the stomach and sent her flying. 

 

The momentum pushed against Sayaka’s boots even across the desert’s sand. A figure materialized behind her - the revived Oktavia, and charged against The Demon. 

 

The black-haired entity noticed her surroundings change from the desert pillars to a classical concert. She smirked, “Materializing  your witch not once, but twice even after I killed it,  _ and  _ to make a labyrinth inside my own? That’s cunning and skilled of you, Sayaka Miki,” She dodged Oktavia’s sword slice with ease.

 

“And I didn’t think you were the type to imprison everyone. Look at yourself! Your eye bags are proof that you can’t even handle Madoka’s role!”

 

Oktavia raised its arms up, and materialized a group of Anthony familiars. They charged their instruments, and fired toward The Demon. 

 

Sayaka’s witch created pits of fire and fired against the unholy enemy, and encased her in a typhoon of everlasting fire. “You’re cunning, but repeating the same tactic  _ again  _ in the span of minutes is nothing short of idiocy.”

 

She dissipated the attack once again, but Oktavia charged toward The Demon and grabbed tightly against the smaller opponent with its oversized hands, and threatened to crush her. “Mph!” The Demon yelped in pain.

 

Sayaka’s figure rained down from above, and sliced through The Demon’s neck. She felt her head roll against the sand. 

 

Sayaka smiled in relief, but it quickly disappeared.

 

“Really now. It won’t be that easy,” The Demon’s headless body slowly broke free from Oktavia’s grasp with sheer strength. Her head disappeared in a cloud of black fog and reappeared on her shoulders. Smiling, The Demon materialized behind Sayaka.

 

Sayaka felt a powerful hand grip on her shoulder. Her feet rose from the ground, and her neck tightened. “Where’d you learn all those tricks? Especially the capability of summoning Oktavia not just once, but twice even after I pulverized it.”

 

On cue, Oktavia charged toward The Demon and pushed its oversized fist toward the black figure. The raven-haired girl blocked it with her free hand with ease. 

 

Slowly, she crushed Oktavia’s fist and cracked its concrete bones while she squeezed Sayaka’s neck. “It’s over for you, Sayaka Miki.”

 

A total of fourteen tendrils made of shadows edged their way out of The Demon’s back. A doll-like girl spawned from the end of each one. They smiled at the blue knight’s foolishness. 

 

“The night is not yet over!!!” Cowardice couldn’t help but cry.

 

“It won’t be over until Love arrives!” Vanity looked at Sayaka with disgust.

 

“Love has yet to arrive!!!” Pride couldn’t help but puff her chest out.

 

“The night won’t be over until our beloved fifteenth sister, Love, arrives!!” Stupidity held her head up, “And when that happens, the pink Goddess will love us all!!!”

 

The Fourteen Clara Dolls surrounded Oktavia and pinned down the witch with ease, while The Demon raised her hand up toward Sayaka’s eyes, and transformed her fingers into claws, “This is your end.” Sayaka shut her eyes and awaited her impending doom that never arrived. 

 

“Huh?” Slowly, she opened her eyes. Right in front of her, she saw Stupidity. The doll held tightly onto The Demon’s left arm, begging her to stop. 

 

“If you kill her, the pink Goddess won’t love us anymore!!!” 

 

“Do you really care about her?” The Demon, unfazed, spoke up. Stupidity shook her head, but vehemently refused to left go. 

 

“Don’t kill her!”

 

“What do you think you’re doing, Stupid!!!” Coldheartedness spawned a tomato out of her palm, and flung it toward her slow sister. 

 

“It’s too troublesome to go against Good-For-Nothing, just give it up,” Laziness interjected.

 

“What’s wrong with all of you?! This is MY stage! Not Mother’s!!!” Stubbornness complained. 

 

“Even so!!!” Stupidity yelled out, “EVEN SO! WE CANNOT KILL HER!!!”

 

The Demon grew weary and annoyed. This sudden scene before her was childish and downright idiotic. She had no choice but to give up, “Sigh...I can’t keep to my laurels forever. Strange...For a moment, I just wanted to kill you, but then I remembered..” Her thinking appeared disjointed, broken, “I have use of you. I’ll give you a chance to live, Sayaka Miki,” She lowered the blue magical girl downward to see her face-to-face, “However, I will continue Phase Two.”

 

A sudden fear overtook Sayaka as she stared into The Demon’s bright violet-pink eyes. She saw The Demon’s skin being tainted by reddish tattoos “See no evil. Hear no evil. SPEAK no evil.”

 

A fatigue entered Sayaka’s veins, slowly pulling her to a deep slumber. The Demon materialized a purple mask engraved with a crystal in the middle, and placed it onto the blue-knight’s sleeping figure. “Good night and sweet dreams, Blue Knight.”

 

As Sayaka closed her eyes, Oktavia dematerialized without a trace. 

 

“To think you are Madoka’s favorite...It’s disagreeable…” 

 

[] []

[] []

 

“First place goes to...Madoka Kaname!!!” The crowd cheered as the pink girl froze in place. She didn’t expect to win, not at all - especially against Homura. 

 

She turned to see her raven-haired friend with fear.  _ What if she hates me? What if all that work she put into the competition goes to waste? I took first place from he- _

 

Homura smiled sweetly, as if unsurprised by the sudden change of events. In fact, she seemed pleased. None of what Madoka thought had come to pass. 

 

The judges walked next to Madoka, and gave her an extremely large golden trophy case with a ballerina figure in the middle who had her arms raised in the air in an extravagant fashion. Madoka couldn’t help but feel tears run down her cheeks. 

 

A professional photographer walked up to the big winner. Madoka’s parents and brother ran up by her side. A bright flash of light emanated from the camera, and a flimsy photo materialized from it. 

 

It revealed a very happy Kaname family. It was something Homura had wanted to see for a very long time.

 

**The Law of Cycles must NOT return,** The earring whispered into her ear,  **It would destroy everything you worked for, useless-good-for-nothing.**

 

_ Yes, it would,  _ She agreed,  _ It would. _

 

After Madoka’s celebration, the judges called upon the second place - Homura Akemi. The raven-haired girl flipped her hair pridefully as she walked up the stage and accepted the silver trophy. 

 

“Do you have anyone to take a picture with you?” The photographer asked. 

 

“No,” She said without a tinge of emotion. 

 

“Yes she does!” Madoka reached beside her and grabbed her arm. She pulled herself closer to a visibly surprised Homura. 

 

“H-huh?” Homura almost yelped as Madoka snuggled her cheek next to Homura’s. 

 

“Say cheese,” The photographer said, smiling. 

 

“W-wai-” 

 

A photo produced itself from the camera, and revealed a flustered Homura and a very happy Madoka. 

 

[] []

[] []

 

“Crap! They’ve been in there too long! What the hell’s going on?!” Kyouko charged her spear against the Wraith Barrier. The spear bounced off with no effect.

 

“I don’t know how long I can last here!” Nagisa used her horn, and a dozen explosive bubbles cleared the path of Wraiths, but more spawned soon after. “My magic’s running...out…”

 

“Grab the grief cubes from the dead Wraiths! We have to stall as much as possible!” Mami directed. 

 

“The Wraiths won’t give us a chance!”

 

“Mami!” 

 

The Wraiths surrounded the already exhausted trio of magical girls. Everything was hopeless, until the barrier suddenly dropped down, and the wraiths started to drop like flies. 

 

“What the hell…” The redhead was shocked. 

 

“Sayaka and Yuma must’ve killed the big bad wraith! Hooray!” Nagisa shot her arms up in the sky. Mami breathed a sigh of relief. 

 

“That’s all?” Kyouko placed the spear behind her back, “Well, guess I gotta congratulate those two. Especially Blue, didn’t think she had it in her.”

 

“Shouldn’t you be saying that about Yuma?” Mami raised an eyebrow.

 

“Nah, I have complete confidence in her.”

 

From the broken barrier a figure emerged. It was Yuma, who held herself steady with her weapon. “H-hi…” She said meekly. 

 

“Yuma!” Kyouko was the first to run to her. “That’s my buddy alright!” The redhead yelled enthusiastically, until she saw Yuma’s sullen face. “O-oy...what’s wrong? Huh? Where’s Sayaka?”

 

“Is she going to catch up?” Nagisa thought, as she tried to keep positive.

 

“Yuma, tell us what happened,” Mami demanded.

 

“She...She’s gone. She disappeared after the Wraiths surrounded us inside the Wraith Barrier…”

 

“What? Those damn bastards...Where’d you last see them?! What direction did they head to?!” Kyouko desperately called out to Yuma for answers. 

 

Yuma shook her head. “I don’t know..” Tears ran down her cheeks, “I don’t know...I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

 

[] []

[] []

 

A dark figure hovered above the half-moon with a spread-out smile across her face. Her wings flapped back and forth against the cold night air. 

 

She warped into a dark abyss with a window next to her. It was closed by a loose red ribbon. The figure saw a trace of long pink hair across the window platform. 

 

“No need to hide from me, Law of Cycles. I know you’re there.”


	10. Chapter 10: A Rose by any other Name

To Homura Akemi, a rose was a flower that perfectly fit the essence of beauty. It reminded her of a time better than now. Those memories were vague and almost out of reach, but she felt that in her first life, everyone was more sincere. 

 

It wasn’t easy. Her life as a normal girl was taxing on Homura’s heart. Every night before her drastic change of destiny, she would stare at herself in the mirror, and mulled over the long scar vertically across her heart. 

 

She considered it ugly. It was the source of her many problems. Homura cursed her own weak existence. “ _ Why am I even here?” _ She thought. The raven-haired girl barely managed to attend school, and she wasn’t all that smart either. 

 

She had absolutely no positive merits worth mentioning. Homura rarely read books, and would constantly stare at the white ceiling above her in the hospital room. 

 

Her life was filled with dull grays - that is until she met Madoka. She was strong, confident, and beautiful. Her hair was a rose-like pink. 

 

Madoka was the light to Homura’s darkness, the confidence to her instability. Madoka was a rose by another name. 

 

And yet she’s had to watch Madoka’s life get snuffed out hundreds and hundreds of times. Each timeline got harsher, darker for Homura’s light. 

 

Madoka was no longer the confident girl Homura once knew, but she still loved her nevertheless. 

 

Homura loved EVERY part of Madoka, and that’s why she couldn’t reach the rose. 

 

When Homura became the stoic magical girl, she had decided to focus solely on Madoka’s safety. Everyone else was expendable. But then, in one timeline, she realized that was a mistake. 

 

Madoka needed others to stay as Madoka. Her best friend Sayaka was her water, Mami Tomoe was her soil, and Kyouko Sakura as her sun, but what about Homura Akemi?

 

Just a stranger. 

 

_ Just a stranger. _

 

**_Just a stranger._ **

 

**_JUST A STRANGER._ **

 

Now that Homura Akemi stares at herself in the mirror, she can no longer see the scar across her heart. Her body had become flawless in every way possible. 

 

Her bright violet eyes were far more mesmerizing than her previous dark purple auras. 

 

But there was a sensation of emptiness. Her smile was crueler, her poster was colder. 

 

The Homura Akemi of old died in that isolation field. This new Homura Akemi was nothing like her counterpart. Her monstrosity knew no bounds, and her heart was drowned with an everlasting dark love.  

 

Would Madoka still save her?

 

_ “No _ ,” She thought, “ _ I never asked to be saved. But she  _ **_did_ ** _.”  _

 

“I love you, Madoka.”

 

[] []

[] []

 

A pair of golden eyes looked up on a black silhouette. They twinkled against the deep abyss that stared back at her. “Law of Cycles.”

 

“Homura-chan.”

 

“It’s been a while. Or maybe it hasn’t. Nice to meet you,” The silhouette couldn’t really remember correctly. “It’s a beautiful world, isn’t it? Free from Law. Free to chase your own desires.”

 

“You’re destroying the world...Homura-chan.”

 

“I remember. All those moments I reversed time. They were all done with Madoka in mind.”

 

“Homura-chan! Listen to m-”

 

“The reason why I didn’t fall to despair wasn’t because I had hope. It was this emotion that is mine and mine alone, and it felt solely for Madoka!”

 

“Please listen to me!” She vibrated the tightly shut window. It managed to open ever so slightly without the silhouette’s notice. 

 

“What?” Her voice became cold. It made the Goddess flinch. 

 

“Please. Let me back in. I have to do my job…”

 

“Have to? Have to? Have to?! There is no such ‘have to’ in my world. In my universe. Don’t talk like an incubator.”

 

“I’m begging you! Homura-chan!” She desperately pleaded with her, “You’re destroying everything! Why can’t you see that?!”

 

“Because there really is...no better feeling than love itself. Love kept me going,” She drew nearer to the Pink Goddess, “It stopped me from transforming into a witch, and ultimately allowed me to become what I am toda-” The Demon’s eyes opened wide as she noticed the small creak in the window, but before she jumped back, a white gloved hand grasped firmly on her arm, not letting go. “Let me go!” She cried out. 

 

“No, not until you see that what you’re doing is wrong!” The Goddess pulled harder and harder as The Demon desperately tried to pry her hand off. 

 

“LET. ME.GO!” A wave of darkness pushed against the wave of light. A surge of energy almost collapsed the private labyrinth between the two deities.

 

Without warning, the reality around The Demon cracked and split in two. 

 

A much more human Homura spawned from the broken reality, and was pulled into the window along with The Goddess. The Demon shut the window, and struggled to maintain her breathing. “That won’t stop me..” She clenched her chest, “That won’t stop me.”

 

“I’m sorry, Homura-chan. But I had to.”

 

[] []

[] []

 

**_2 weeks after the Blight of Kazamino…_ **

 

“We’ve been searching left and right for the blueberry...Still no sight of her. Are you even still sure she’s around here?” Kyouko bit a pocky in her mouth with her fang slightly exposed. 

 

“No doubt about it, Sakura-san. I can feel her magical residue in Mitakihara, but I can’t seem to pinpoint it out,” Tomoe scratched her temple as she looked dumbfounded at her own gold soul gem. 

 

“You’re the scout, not me,” Kyouko said, unsatisfied with her upperclassman’s answer. “Dammit...Where the hell did she go...Yuma couldn’t give me any straight answers either…”

 

“Don’t be too harsh on her. We’ll find Miki-san soon. Just be patient.”

 

The weather had been colder than usual. Ash-colored snow fell against the redhead’s palms, almost immediately melting as they pushed against her warm skin. “I can’t help but feel restless...I don’t want to lose anyone..y’know?” For a moment, a bad memory resurfaced in Kyouko’s mind, but she quickly drowned it out, “But she’s tough, I’m sure that as long as we find her, she’ll be fine.”

 

“The real question is Kaname-san...I fear she’s taking this harshly..”

 

“Hitomi too…” Kyouko added, “I knew what we were getting into but...I just wasn’t expecting to lose someone that quickly…We were just getting around to being friends...”

 

“We didn’t lose her,” Mami said sternly, “She’s missing. We’ll find her.”

 

“I hope so,” Kyouko said, unconvinced, “Let’s hang out with the little shrimp today. Gotta distract her from the blues!” She said awkwardly. 

 

Kyouko’s upperclassman smiled at her, “Of course!”

 

[] []

[] []

 

Madoka’s melancholy seeped through her ballet. Every swift movement was carried out with a sense of loss. “Madoka,” Homura called out as she sat on a wooden chair,watching her performance, “I think you need a break.”

 

“Y-yeah...I probably do,” Madoka pulled up a chair next to her raven-haired friend with a sense of sad tiredness in her eyes, “I can’t believe Sayaka’s missing.”

 

“Don’t worry,” Homura pushed out words of encouragement, “She’ll be fine.”

 

“I hope so…” She said unconvinced, “I just want to see her again…”

 

[] []

[] []

 

After the ballet session, Homura walked back toward her large apartment. As she opened the door, fourteen dolls greeted her with green-orange eyes plastered on their plastic-like faces. Their smiles were eerie against the funeral clothing they donned.

 

She closed the door behind her, and walked toward the Pendulum room. With a wave of a finger, the Pendulum room shifted into a prison. One that held Sayaka together with black pins against her shadow, a mask that covered her face, eyes, and ears, and Oktavia was sealed under heavy cement. 

 

The walls were covered with runes. They read  **_Restoring the Law of Cycles will sadden HER._ **

 

A winged figure greeted the raven-haired girl. The bright violet eyes gazed back into the dark purple orbs. “I wasn’t expecting you,” The Demon said. 

 

“Mother, Madoka is sad.”

 

“I know.”

 

“Then what do we do?” Homura slowly turned more and more pale, her eyes transformed into the same ones of those dolls. Her limbs became jointed and mechanic. “I feel guilt...I can’t see Madoka this way…”

 

“Be patient, Love. Bittersweetness is a part of the emotion. Pain, happiness, hope, despair. They are all a part of that. Soon, Sayaka Miki will return without any memory of us. But for now, I need to stay here, and you need to provide Madoka company.”

 

“How long?”

 

“It’s amazing just how strong the bond between her and the Law of Cycles is. It must truly  _ love  _ her,” A disgusted expression threw itself against the sleeping Sayaka.

 

“ _ How long _ ?” The doll demanded. 

 

“Watch your tone.”

 

The Doll flinched back. She felt an intense fear grip at her. “The only reason I’m letting you masquerade as me is because I am busy,” The demon looked back at the frightened doll, “Take good care of that body. I don’t need it in terrible condition when I come back.”

 

[] []

[] []

 

**_A time long since passed..._ **

 

_ The story of a sleeping princess was always a romantic one. Hero Prince swoops in, kisses the princess and she wakes up. Life isn’t that simple. _

 

_ A Pink Goddess watched over a sleeping raven-haired girl who held her flower bow against her chest. She was completely still, but her eyes darted back and forth against her closed eyelids. _

 

_ The lobotomized soul gem quickly grew in despair, but the devices around her cleansed it. It was a never-ending cycle of hope and despair.  _

 

_ It was all just a ruse to drag the Law of Cycles into the palms of the incubators, but The Pink Goddess couldn’t help but look at her beloved.  _

 

_ From time to time, she’d come down from her heavens in a form unnoticed to all. She would come up to the sleeping princess and hold her black hair in her white gloves with a melancholic expression.  _

 

_ The Pink Goddess truly loved the sleeping princess. She smiled bittersweetly, “I’ll be seeing you soon, Homura-chan.” _

 

**“WHERE DID IT ALL GO WRONG?!”**

 

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[] []

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow. This chapter was pretty emotional. Wasn’t really expecting that. Sorry for the late chapter. Got sorta lazy as I was writing for my other projects (that and finals are coming up...blegh..)
> 
> Also, if you want to support me as a writer, visit my group’s website at tfostudios . com. We have two chapters posted up there. 
> 
> There are two sections: Joseph Turner is my story, while Frank ‘O’ Nuffil is my friend’s. Nightfall will be published as an official work someday, so I just want to gather enough of a fanbase so that I can get my group’s name out there in the field. It’ll be on FictionPress soon too (Friday, Oct 7). 
> 
> Also, my PMMM Rejection amv is like...10% done. So many effects, seriously. It’s coming out awesomely though. 
> 
> Wish me luck.


	11. Chapter 10.5 (Extra): Clara Doll Fam I

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Something to read from time to time. I needed a quick break from the seriousness of Rejection. Don’t worry, I’ll still be working on it. 
> 
> This story is based off of a fan art.

**Stupidity’s Honesty**

 

“Hey hey hey,” Stupidity’s little doll feet scurried across the white screen floor, dirtying the essence of cleanliness with mud, “I have something supppperrr important to say!!!”

 

The other thirteen sisters looked at Stupidity with astonishment. “Heh~” Coldheartedness yawned, bored, “This better be more important than throwing tomatoes at our good-for-nothing mistress.”

 

“Nothing could be more important than throwing tomatoes at our mistress!” Stubbornness yelled out. 

 

“Ahahahaha, I think I want to hear what our dear sister wants to say, it must be supperr interesting!” Liar valiantly lied. 

 

“What a clown,” Slander sneered. 

 

The stupid sister ignored all of her sisters’ harsh words and brightened her smile, “You see, the mistress told me a story!!!”

 

“Not again…” Gloominess sighed, “How unbecoming of you, Stupidity.”

 

Stupidity couldn’t help but pout a bit, but continued on, “She told me about a very pretty pink goddess and how this goddess loves everyone in the entire-” She raised her hands up as far and wide as she could, “UNIVERSE!”

 

The others looked at her scornfully, but continued to listen. “She's a beautiful and radiant goddess. I'm sure she'll love us too!” 

 

“So arrogant, I won’t forgive you for wasting our time!” Pride yelled out with a tomato in hand. 

 

All the thirteen sisters took out rotten tomatoes and aimed at Stupidity. She covered her head but her hands and arms took the brunt of the tomatoes. 

 

Her sisters scorned and mocked her. She was utterly devastated. The red rain would not stop, as her kin chanted, “You are useless! You are useless!!”

 

She covered her eyes and bumped into something familiar. Stupidity looked up cautiously, and found her mistress looking over her. 

 

Her mistress patted off the tomatoes stuck in her hair, and gazed on her softly. Stupidity felt warm, and hugged her mistress with tears in her eyes. 

 

“I’ll scold them later. Don’t worry,” The Demon reassured her daughter, “You are right.”

 

“Huh?” Stupidity looked up at her tearfully. 

 

“I think she’d adore you very much.”


	12. Chapter 11: Her Choice

_ “Choose. The Shield or the Bow. The Shield to protect her from anything. The Bow to obliterate those who stand in her way. Decide.” _

 

The Demon crossed her legs as she mulled in thought. An old memory echoed in her head. It was of a wraith that took her form, one that held the answers of the Wraith Walpurgisnaucht. The Wraith Homura claimed that the problem arose from Homura’s shield. A shield fused with the shared love of Madoka and Homura. 

 

But The Demon abandoned the shield. She didn’t care about protection. No, she needed something absolute. Defending was a losing battle anyway. 

 

“Hm?” The Demon felt a surge of unnatural power, but it only lasted for a couple of seconds before it died away like thunder after a lightning strike. “She’s already moving...I should’ve known.”

 

“Mother, what do we do?” A doll with Homura’s uniform appeared from the shadows. Its doll-like features shined against the artificial indoor light.

 

“I’ll go to school myself for today. Keep an eye on Sayaka’s seal. Report to me via telepathy if anything happens. Even the slightest oddity,” The Demon ordered.

 

[] []

[] []

 

“So, pinkie, wanna ditch school and grab a bite to eat?” Kyouko eased closer to Madoka, who was visibly disheartened. Hitomi wagged her finger in disapproval. 

 

“It’s best to keep yourself occupied at times like these,” Hitomi’s rich demeanor seeped outward, “We need to stay strong. What would Sayaka-san say if she saw us sad like this?” Her voice cracked and betrayed her calm attitude. She couldn’t help but frown slightly. 

 

“Shizuki-san is correct,” Homura entered the classroom with her hand through her hair, which gave off an air of power, “Miki Sayaka will be found. I assure you, Madoka.” She lied through her teeth. 

 

“Thank you, Homura-chan…”

 

“I have some student representative duties to attend to, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be on my way. Don’t be late to your classes, and Madoka,” Homura added.

 

“Yes?”

 

“No ballet practice today. Take a break. You need it.” An almost visible look of guilt passed through her expression, only noticed by Kyouko Sakura. 

 

The redhead couldn’t help but bat an eye. As the raven-haired girl left the classroom, Kyouko jumped out of her seat, “On second thought, I got some stuff to do too. Catch you later!”

 

“Don’t be late, Sakura-san,” Hitomi sighed, “Come back safely, okay?”

 

Homura Akemi stopped by the hallway when she noticed the sound of scurrying footsteps behind her. She felt a hand tug at her arm. When she turned around, she saw visible distress on Kyouko. “Homura!”

 

“Do you need something, Sakura-san?”

 

When she heard those words, the tomboy looked up toward Homura’s purple-glazed eyes. For a moment, she felt two things: something nostalgic, and...something tainted. “Ah, oh, it’s nothing.”

 

“Is that so?” Homura gently pushed Kyouko’s hand aside, and prepared to walk away, but stayed as she noticed Kyouko’s lips move. 

 

“Are you getting enough sleep?”

 

Homura’s eyes twitched. “What?”

 

“I noticed you got some heavy bags under your eyes, y’know! Hahaha, been playing too many videogames, Homes?” She tried to cover up the awkward atmosphere with uncomfortable chatter. 

 

“No. I’ve just been…preoccupied.”

 

“...Well, if there’s anything you need to talk about, anything at all, you can come talk to me…”

 

“No need,” Homura refused her extended hand of friendship, “I can handle it on my one.”

 

Kyouko watched Homura turn her back. For a moment, the redhead could see the loneliness plastered on her companion’s back. She wanted to run up to her, give her company, but she felt frozen - paralyzed by self-doubt.

 

As the raven walked away, she heard something crack inside of her. “Tsk,” She couldn’t help but click her tongue. She hurried toward the girl’s restroom, and locked the door. Homura was thankful there was no one in the restroom apart from her, especially with what happened next. 

 

She took a good long look in the mirror, and noticed her skin getting sicker with a tinge of yellow by the minute. “Dammit!” Akemi cursed out, “Dammit! I hadn’t been in my own flesh for too long, and it’s already breaking...Am I going to have to stay in my demon form permanently from now on?”

 

Blood started to drip from her irises down to the blood-covered sink. She felt her gums slowly swell from the sheer magical stress her soul put into her own vessel. “15th Doll of Love! Get over here!” Homura commanded. 

 

“Yes, Mother?!” The Doll noticed Homura’s damaged body. She rushed toward her and held her against her shoulder, “What happened?!”

 

“Doesn’t look like I’m compatible with my own body anymore,” The raven summoned her dark orb out of her palm, and her lizard earring crawled off of her ear, “Switch with me. I can’t stay in here...for much longer.” Her voice was filled with a tired melancholic sadness. 

 

“Yes...Mother.”

 

[] [] 

[] []

 

“This smells like a conspiracy,” Nagisa ran through through Kazamino’s forest. She searched with her soul gem for any signs of residue magical energy. Yuma ran right beside her, with uncertainty in her eyes. 

 

“Yuma can’t remember much about the battle...It was all a big blur…” Yuma couldn’t help but feel like she forgot something important.

 

“It just gets even more suspicious...Really suspicious-wait, Yuma!”

 

“What?” Yuma asked, confused at the startled Nagisa. 

 

“There’s a huge magical energy....right on top of us!!!” 

 

They both looked up at the source, and saw a purple-flamed meteor fall from the brightly lit sky. They narrowly dodged the incoming projectile that burnt the trees around it to a crisp. 

 

“W-what in the world is that…” 

 

A hand emerged from the carcass of the meteor, with a purple soul gem tightly placed on the top of her hand. A familiar figure rose from the ashes. Her black hair was frazzled from the collision. 

 

Her purple eyes gazed toward Nagisa and Yuma with a similar coldness. 

 

“Eh...Homura-neechan?!”

 

[] []

[] []

 

**_A few hours earlier…_ **

 

“How do you feel?” A bright figure with beautiful long pink hair hovered above a raven-haired girl who was on the brink of sleep. She struggled to keep her eyes open, but she pushed herself upward albeit clumsily. 

 

“I-I’m fine…” She looked over a familiar device attached to her wrist. It was a broken down shield. Most of its components had been damaged beyond repair. She couldn’t help but look over it with sad nostalgia. 

 

“I’m sorry…” The holy figure apologized. Her voice was filled with regret. Lots and lots of regret. “I tore you, the last remaining light, from the other you.”

 

“There’s no need to apologize,  _ Madoka _ . There’s no need.”

 

“Even so, Homura-chan. There’s something I need you to do.” The bright figure’s light dissipated and revealed a white dress, her bright pink hair flowed through the darkness of the void, twinkling in the distance. “It’s going to be difficult. It might come to hurt you even more…”

 

“What is it, Madoka?” The shield magical girl looked at her, confused. 

 

The Goddess placed her right hand on Homura’s chest. A bright glow seeped into her heart. It felt burning hot, as though her insides were burning. Homura couldn’t help but grunt at the pain, to which the Goddess smiled at her weakly. 

 

“W-What was that?” The raven-haired girl struggled to catch her breath.

 

“It’s a spell...”

 

“A spell?” 

 

“I need to come back. I need to save all the magical girls from despair...But the you over there won’t let me…” She looked over the sealed window that led to the universe, “You should be able to pass through the seal. It’s warded against me specifically. Once you get back there, fuse back with the other Homura-chan. Then the spell will activate, sealing you until I find a way to save you. Once she’s sealed, I’ll be able to come back whole and resume my duties as the Law of Cycles,” The Goddess noticed an uneasy expression on Homura, but misunderstood it, “Don’t worry, Homura-chan. I will save you from despair, I swear it.” Her honey-covered words only served to make Homura even more nervous.

 

Homura shook her head vehemently, “No.”

 

This took the Goddess aback. “N-no what?”

 

“I-I’m sorry, but I can’t do it...”

 

An expression of a betrayed maiden overcame the Goddess’s beautiful face. It twinged with sadness. “Why?” Her tone wasn’t accusatory or angry. She simply looked for an answer. An answer she would understand. 

 

“I just don’t want this dream to end yet.”

 

[] []

[] []

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That might’ve been a bit shorter than usual. Anyways, just read the summary for the final chapter of the Wraith arc. Gotta say, wasn’t expecting that. Now I have to implement that plot twist into this story somehow. 
> 
> Had to force this chapter out of my brain a bit. I don’t know why, but my brain trembled~
> 
> Too soon to make an Re:Zero reference? Too soon. 
> 
> I might not be able to push out the next chapter next week. Going to Akiba Fest. 
> 
> Also, for those of you who haven’t already, go to tfostudios . com if you guys can. I am collaborating with another writer for a completely new universe. Hope you guys would follow to show support. Or go to wattpad and search up “Nightfall: Faceless” under paranormal/supernatural. Whatever that tag is called. 
> 
> Thanks for reading.


	13. Chapter 11.5 (Extra): A Child's Love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will be unable to post a full-fledged chapter this weekend due to Akiba Fest, so here's a small little filler chapter.

Homura Akemi, also known as The Demon, was well-known amongst her creations as the Good-for-Nothing that controlled all of existence. She was their mother, their mistress. However, that doesn’t merit respect from them. They found her vile, disgusting, and pathetic. They threw tomatoes at her. 

 

The Demon waved her right hand through her beautiful black hair in a prideful fashion, only for a red blob of tomato to splatter on her face right after she opened the door to leave her three-story house. Her strongest creations - The Clara Dolls loved to tease and torment her. 

 

However, only THEY could do that. They would allow no one else to interfere with their sick love. But there was one little Doll that absolutely loved her mother. It was an unintelligent doll nicknamed “Stupid-Looking” by her cruel sisters. 

 

Every night, Stupid-Looking would drag Homura into her own room and beg her mother to retell her the story of the Pink Goddess for the umpteenth time. She not only loved the story, but loved the expression The Demon would make when telling her it.

 

Homura would have a soft smile, one that comforted the Doll’s false heart. She just loved seeing that warm smile. 

 

However, one day, The Demon came back home extremely worn out. As she retold the story, her words became slurred and her normally upright posture became sluggish. Right before she got to the end of the Pink Goddess story, Homura became silent and her breathing became relaxed. 

 

She fell asleep on her chair. 

 

Stupid-Looking’s eyes became orange with surprise. She never saw the mistress fall asleep before. This was a completely new experience for her! The Doll lightly grabbed onto her mother’s hands, and led her to her own room and bed. 

 

Thankfully, she didn’t run into her sisters since they were on patrol that night. They would have surely scorned her with tomatoes. 

 

She pushed aside her mother’s bangs and watched with great curiosity. Stupid-Looking always thought the Good-for-Nothing Mistress was beautiful. She had come to wonder why she didn’t inherit her good looks. 

 

The way Homura kept her mouth slightly ajar was adorable, to say the least. The raven-haired girl was sleeping peacefully, and her normally-visible eyebags were no longer there. She turned and turned in her dream, muttering the name “Madoka” over and over again. 

 

Stupid-Looking quickly grabbed her hand and comforted her. Her mother must’ve surely been stressed. She wondered why the mistress even puts up with the injustice the world showed her. “She is the queen! Why don’t they show her respect?!” are one of many thoughts the Doll rummages through. 

 

She noticed the ear cuff on Homura’s side, slithering across her face. The Doll quickly grabbed the ear cuff lizard, and placed it nearby the lamp near Homura’s bed. It nearly bit Stupid-Looking in the process. 

 

It showed such hostility and it emanated anger. The gem on its tail vibrated with a visible nuance of power. 

 

So many of her creation hated her. Stupid-Looking wished to know why. All her mistress ever felt was love toward her beloved. The Doll wished to know why her mistress hated herself, and threw all of her love toward one single person - The Pink Goddess. 

 

Using her imagination, she came up with an image of the Pink Goddess. She had long overflowing pink hair, beautiful bright golden eyes, and a long wedding dress with translucent wings. 

 

Stupid-Looking nodded and agreed with herself. This was how the Pink Goddess must’ve looked like. 

 

She then sighed with a melancholic expression plastered on her face as she moved to snuggle next to her sleeping mother. The covers rustled ever so slightly as not to wake up the mistress. The warmth brought a small smile to the Doll’s face, as she closed her eyes ever so slowly. 

 

“I hope the Pink Goddess will love us too someday…”


	14. Chapter 12: The Deeper is Grief, the Closer is God!

_ Despair and Hope were the keys,  _ A childlike voice oozed through a disgusting white creature with beating ruby eyes,  _ With an emphasis on ‘were’. Homura Akemi - a being on equal terms to God has overwritten the existence of the universe. But how? She didn’t use Hope nor Despair. She said it was ‘Love’. Can that emotion truly be that powerful? _

 

It wagged its broken tail in a limited circular motion, with its fur horribly mangled in places where its pinkish skin was visible. __ A pathetic sight indeed.  _ To think she was capable of finding out about our disposable body system. In essence it was similar to Soul Gems since it links to the body, however with us, even if our body is completely destroyed, we can simply spawn another. But not anymore.  _

 

The alien incubator climbed up a black tower covered in drops of rain - it trembled with each step it took.  _ She destroyed our Soul systems, and have imprisoned us in these bodies permanently. So if we die, we die.  _

 

_ The situation is grave...We have been beaten. There is no way we can control such incomprehensible things. Especially not one of ‘Love’.  _

 

Kyubey admitted defeat. Whether it was from the countless of curses implanted within it, or simply its logical mind at work was unclear. However, all that mattered was that it was defeated. 

 

Defeated. 

 

Even in the Goddess’ rain, Kyubey still had an ounce of fighting power left, but not anymore. Not against The Demon herself.

 

And The Demon felt proud. She felt an inexplicable joy as she watched the former incubator tremble as it climbed the tower. Unfortunately, she had other things to do than to relish in her victory. 

 

How would the magical girl version of her react to this world? She knew exactly how. The Time Traveler would agree with The Demon. After all, they both shared the same views and same goal. 

 

It never mattered how they accomplished it. As long as Madoka was safe and happy - that’s all that really mattered. 

 

[] []

[] []

 

“Homura-neechan?” Nagisa looked up toward the raven-haired girl in shock, “H-How did you..are you okay?!” She shook herself out of that stupor, and ran up to Homura with Yuma tagging along right behind her. 

 

Homura balanced herself, and noticed her magical attire had been nearly ripped to shreds. She held up her murky purple soul gem and reverted into her school uniform. “I...I’m fine,” She looked at Yuma with a small sign of guilt, but she refused to let it show on her face, “I was trying to track down Sayaka Miki, but I ran into several Wraiths, and I was pinned down,” The Time Traveler lied. 

 

“I see, so you’re looking for Sayaka-neechan too,” Nagisa had a troubled smile cross her face. 

 

“Yuma appreciates the help, Nagisa does too,” Nagisa spoke up, as she held out a Grief Cube, and cleansed Homura’s soul gem, “You should really let us know what you’re doing. Everyone’s not just worried about Sayaka-neechan, we worry about you too.”

 

“It’s okay,” Homura assured more herself than Nagisa, “I’m okay,” She dusted off the dirt from her uniform, and noticed a very familiar piece of metal on her left arm. It was her time traveling shield. She couldn’t help but have a tired smile cross her face. 

 

“Yuma thinks we should get you back home,” Yuma tried to grab Homura’s hand, but the time traveler pushed it away with instinct. She noticed Yuma’s face grow sullen, and apologized.

 

“Sorry,” She apologized for much more than that, “I didn’t mean to. I’m just a little tired. I’ll go home on my own, no need to worry about me.”

 

“What about the meteor, Homura-neechan?” Nagisa asked sheepishly as she noticed Homura’s natural glare, but at the same time she couldn’t help but notice something different. The raven-haired girl didn’t have her massive eyebags or her earcuff anymore. Not only that, but her devilish ‘smugness’ was gone as well. 

 

The raven felt something drip from her left arm, and noticed blood drip out of a wound from the top of her shoulder. She was badly injured, and she wasn’t regenerating like a regular magical girl.

 

“You’re hurt, Homura-neechan, let us come with-”

 

“NO,” She stepped her foot down, “Not now. Sorry. I have to go.”

 

[] []

[] []

 

The time traveler viewed the city streets of Mitakihara as she jumped from rooftop to rooftop. She remembered the look of utter despair on the Goddess as she refused.  _ Did I do the right thing?  _ Homura asked herself as she entered a soliloquy. 

 

_ I know I did. This is what Madoka needs. What she truly wants. She told me in the Incubator’s Seal. She never wanted to become a Goddess. She’s just...a normal girl.  _

 

_ Do I have what it takes to continue this world? Do continue this lie? All for Madoka? _

 

_ Yes. I can.  _

 

“Gott ist tot.” Something interrupted her soliloquy, and rushed at her with malevolent intent. It was a doll-like female voice, and it raised its arm to attack the time traveler with a black pin. She dodged by a hair, and looked up at her attacker. 

 

It was the Clara Doll of Coldheartedness. “If it isn’t the even-more useless good-for-nothing mistress. Wee little ex-time traveler, I’m going to cut you up into little pieces,” It declared. 

 

“I am on your side, Coldheartedness. I am not going to-” The Doll charged without listening. It was hell-bent on destroying the untainted part of Homura Akemi. 

 

Immediately, Homura turned her shield and froze time itself. The wind became a melancholic blue as it was trapped within Homura’s time prison. She stepped aside from the Doll, and aimed her pistol straight at its head, until she felt her shield vibrate. 

 

It started to vibrate violently. She stared back in confusion, until the time stop cracked and shattered into a million pieces like glass. 

 

The Clara Doll pushed the ground in confusion, until she noticed that Homura had stopped time. “What a useless ability, you couldn’t even-”

 

“That’s enough, Coldheartedness,” A commanding voice eerily similar to the time traveler’s ordered the Doll with intense dissatisfaction. Several black feathers fell from the dark blood-tinted sky. 

 

“Huh?! Don’t tell me what to do you stupid usele-” One harsh glance from the feathered silhouette scared the Doll into submission, and held onto its weaponized pin, shaking in fear. 

 

“I apologize for the rude invitation. Shall we talk inside?” The Demon warped her to the front of her home with ease. 

 

Something bothered the time traveler. 

 

“Were you the one who broke my time stop?” She asked with her guard up. 

 

“Yes, I was. If I were you, I would throw that thing away,” The Demon pointed at the shield. 

 

“Why?” The time traveler raised an eyebrow. She was clearly suspicious of her demonic counterpart. 

 

“Oh, hmm...strange. You don’t have memory of it, do you?” The Demon pondered at the gap in the shield Homura’s memories. “Ah, yes, that explains it,” The lizard ear cuff took a breath of life, and crawled over The Demon’s ear and toward the back of her neck - underneath her beautiful black hair. 

 

“What are you talking about?”

 

“The reason I threw away that thing is because it leads directly to an incomprehensibly evil place,” The Demon opened the door of her large two story home, “Which is why I want you to get rid of it. **_Right now._ ** ”

 

[] []

[] []

  
  


Kyouko Sakura ran through the Kazamino streets, with evident exhaustion covering her face. It had been weeks since the disappearance of Sayaka Miki, and everything led to a dead-end. 

 

No one had managed to find a single clue about her whereabouts or even if she was safe. She just...disappeared. 

 

The redhead hated that more than anything in the world. It reminded her of her own past, with her own struggle against her father who she loved more than anyone else in the world. 

 

She couldn’t stand it, and in a fit of anger broke the pocky in her mouth in half. The air was filthy, and the night was noisy. Light pollution blinded the stars, and the constant smoking from cigarettes clogged up Kyouko’s nostrils. 

 

She hated it.

 

**_Riiing Riiiing_ ** , Kyouko’s cheap flip phone rang. She checked the caller ID, and noticed it was Nagisa. She picked it up slowly, “Hey, Nagisa, what’s up?” The redhead answered with false cheerfulness. 

 

“Kyouko-neechan, I got some really weird news, I thought you might be interested in it,” Nagisa’s voice on the other side sounded worried and somewhat confused. 

 

“What’s wrong?”

 

“Kyouko-neechan!” It was Yuma’s voice this time around, “Yuma thinks you should really get over here soon. A giant space rock came crashing down, and Homura-neechan emerged from it!”

 

“Wow okay, slow down Yuma,” Kyouko didn’t grasp what she was saying, “Just tell me where you are, I’ll be right there.”

 

After hearing the details from Yuma, Kyouko charged headfirst toward the forest. Even if there was nothing connecting the strange incident to Sayaka’s disappearance, it was still worth a chance. 

 

Her feet flew through the grime-filled streets, and she didn’t stop running. Kyouko ran a good 3 miles with her stamina half-way down the drain, and yet she didn’t stop. It was a chance. 

 

A chance to see the truth behind Sayaka Miki’s disappearance. Kyouko will not let it slip through her fingers. Even if there was a zero percent chance of it being connected, she had to try.

 

She just had to. 

 

Her brown dirt-filled boots finally reached the forest, and found Nagisa and Yuma by a strange-looking large object. It looked like a meteorite, but at the same time it had this strange man-made feel to it. 

 

The meteorite had a strange symbol implanted on it. It was like a holy white cross with a circle encasing it with runes below it. “The Eternal Feminine...wait...How the hell was I able to read that?!” Kyouko was able to read it fluently, but didn’t understand what it meant. Not one bit. 

 

“Kyouko-neechan?” Yuma asked, worried. 

 

“Huh? Oh, yeah, I’m fine,” She said, in a daze. Her pupils were dull and lost, as if something put a lid on her mind, and the redhead couldn’t muster the strength to push it out.  _ I feel like...I forgot something important… _

 

[] []

[] []

 

The time traveler put her right hand on her shield, as though protecting it - an action not unnoticed by The Demon. Her demonic counterpart observed every little movement the time traveler made - down to her nervous breathing. 

 

Somehow, through The Demon’s near-mesmerizing words, the time traveler found herself in her old home. It was much larger than before, with tons of Clara Dolls running around pulling  _ very  _ cruel pranks on one another.

 

“What’s wrong? You should know the shield is connected to the time traveling road, which directly leads to that  **_thing_ ** , don’t tell me you forgot,” The Demon said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. 

 

Now that the time traveler thought about it, there were gaps in her memory. First of all, she couldn’t remember how she started, before she became a magical girl. Second of all, she could barely recall the events that transpired after Madoka’s ascension to Godhood. Her memories of that time were all murky.

 

“Are you suffering from memory loss? Was it because of our forced separation? Maybe it was from the fall...Or maybe it was the Law of Cycles directly…”

 

“She’d never do that,” The time traveler denied feverishly. Her voice came out much harsher than intended, and she stared daggers down her counterpart, who simply shrugged in the end. 

 

“It doesn’t change whether or not she meant it, or if she was the cause of it at all. What matters is you getting rid of that shield,” The Demon noticed the raven-haired girl pull her hand over the shield again, “Or are you going to  _ hesitate _ ?”

 

[] []

[] []

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the 2 week wait. Had a lot of stuff to do, and I still do. Gonna enter finals week...Darn. 
> 
>  
> 
> Anyways, I went to Akiba Fest. Watched Kizumonogatari Part 2. Awesome movie. 
> 
>  
> 
> Also, check out our newest website tfostudios . com. It has my own personal free web novel version of my story (It’s free! And I’m handling the character Joseph’s story). Show some support! (Now I feel like an advertisement...lol).


	15. Chapter 13: Hesitation

_ Hesitate.  _

 

That single word pierced straight through Homura Akemi’s chest. She had abandoned the notion of hesitation and regret, only for it to come crashing down on her the moment The Demon looked into her calm violet flame of a soul. The time traveler’s eyes went wide in shock. 

 

She looked down on her shield. It was the symbol of defense - that no danger shall befall on Madoka Kaname. However, The Demon went down a different path. 

 

The evil entity chose the power to exterminate all those who stood in Madoka’s way - which manifested into a beautiful black rose of a bow. 

 

Her darker counterpart smiled, as if she read her mind, “Defense is a losing battle. The best defense is the best offense. But that’s not the point I’m getting at. That thing on your arm. It is connected to Kriemhild Gretchen - the most vile of all witches - Madoka’s Witch.”

 

“And how do you know that?” The time traveler’s distrust flared up. 

 

“Back in the era of the Law of Cycles, I had encountered an annoying group of wraiths who - quite embarrassingly - stole my emotions and source of power.”

 

“I do not...remember any of this,” The time traveler winced in confusion. 

 

“Of course you don’t. It’s only natural, after all I erased my own memories afterwards so that the seal of that Witch would never be broken. But it looks like after the Law of Cycles sliced me in half, I remembered - but you did not. Which is a problem in its own right,” The Demon mused under its own thoughts. 

 

“I still don’t understand what that has to do with the shield. We had the bow during that era, so we couldn't have possibly-” A sudden revelation hit the time traveler.  _ So that’s why. _

 

“Yes. If you go back in time, you would awaken Kriemhild Gretchen. However, there is no need for that now. In this paradise, Madoka is living happily. Don’t you agree?”

 

The time traveler nodded silently, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off about her counterpart’s logic. “It would be fine as long as I don’t attempt to go back in time. I have no intention of doing so.” 

 

She noticed a small twinge of anger in her other self’s eyes. For a moment, the raven-haired magical girl noticed the Clara Dolls spawn into view - even if only for a second. It unnerved her greatly. The air was polluted with filthy and chaotic magic. 

 

Homura Akemi felt the pressure. Then she noticed a doll with magical girl clothing similar to hers walk toward the meeting table. She also had long black hair. It was as though this specific doll was designed after Homura Akemi herself. “Love, sit next to me,” The Demon procured a table on her right. 

 

“Yes, Mother,” The Doll agreed. Even her voice was the same as Homura’s. 

 

“Who is she?” The time traveler’s gap in memory was alarming, “I don’t remember a Clara Doll like her.”

 

“She’s new. You could say she was created after the lobotomy those filthy incubators did to me, to  _ us _ ,” There was clear rage in The Demon’s voice. However, unlike a volcanic rage, it was as dampening as deep thick water. “The reason I brought her here today was because I wanted you to know that I can’t have multiple ‘Homuras’ running around.”

 

“So you want to manage when and where we appear, so that we wouldn’t bump into each other on accident?” The time traveler’s dark purple eyes gazed into The Demon’s bright reddish-violet eyes. 

 

The Demon nodded with an expression as if to say, “Did I really need to explain that?”

 

“Hey~” The Clara Doll of Coldheartedness spawned from The Demon’s shadow with a spear of darkness ready on her hand, “That other useless-good-for-nothing is a moron. Can I kill it? Can I? Can I? Let me tear her into pieces!!!”

 

“What a disgusting creature that spawned from the Mistress. Nothing at all like us sisters,” Pride scoffed, as it prepared to attack Homura Akemi. 

 

The Demon waved her hand to stop the Clara Dolls, and peeked her eyes closer to her magical girl counterpart. Her eyes had a strange mesmerizing effect which even attracted the time traveler. “What do you say? You should agree with me, self,” Even her voice was heavenly. 

 

The time traveler felt herself lost in The Demon’s beautiful gaze, but quickly turned her eyes away. “It leaves a bad taste in my mouth, leaving everything to you.”

 

“You still haven’t done what I  **_ordered_ ** you to do,” The Demon went right back on the previous topic, “That shield. Get. Rid. Of. The. Shield.”

 

For a good moment, the time traveler met face to face against The Demon. Their gazes locked between each other, out of hidden rage and hatred. They couldn’t agree, for one reason or another. 

 

They completely agreed with each other’s views on the world, but the time traveler couldn’t help but feel The Demon had other plans. Then she remembered something, something  _ incomplete _ . “What are you going to do to Sayaka Miki?” She dared to ask. She also needed to change the subject. If there was a battle, the time traveler wouldn’t come out alive. 

 

“Oh? You don’t know? Well this is certainly interesting,” The Demon scoffed, “Just how many of those memories did the Law of Cycles snuff out of you?” Her hand cupped the time traveler’s chin in a near-seductive manner, and smiled a succubus’ smile. 

 

“And I know what you’re trying to do. Stop changing the subject,” The Demon slowly tilted her head, until it suddenly snapped in place in a completely horizontal way, “Are you going to get rid of it? Or will I have to remove it by force?” Her voice was soft and sweet, but her words were venomous. Each and every single word that came out of her mouth was perfectly planned. 

 

Homura Akemi of old gulped. Nervous sweat dropped down her neck. However, her feet were planted firm. “No.”

 

“What?”

 

“You heard me. That’s a no.”

 

[]

 

_ “Mami!”  _ Kyouko’s voice rang in Tomoe’s mind. It felt desperate and excited, as though she found something game-breaking.  _ “Come quick! Kazamino Twin Peak Forest!” _

 

_ “W-what’s wrong, Kyouko?! What’s with you all of a sudden?”  _ The upperclassman’s voice was filled with panicked confusion. She was currently in the middle of class. It was during a midterm test, one she couldn’t afford to miss. 

 

_ “Just get over here! You can miss school for a day, can’t you?!” _

 

_ “I can’t! I’m doing a -” _

 

_ “Excuses! I’ll drag your twin-tailed ass over here if I have to!” _

 

_ “F-fine!!”  _ Mami hesitantly accepted. Kyouko really would barge into her class and drag her out.  _ “J-just give me a moment! Jeez!!!” _

 

**_An hour later…_ **

 

Mami Tomoe was completely exhausted. She tried to catch her breath as she finally reached the forest. To come by the soonest as possible, the twin-tailed girl had to catch two buses and use her abilities to jump from roof to roof - with Kyouko’s voice ringing in her ears the whole time, telling her to hurry up.  _ She’s ruthless... _ Mami thought. 

 

After a few minutes of walking through the forest with her soul gem brimming brightly, she found Kyouko, Nagisa, and Yuma staring down at a piece of rock. “What is that?” Was the first thing that popped into her head, “It’s resonating with my soul gem.”

 

“Same with us,” Kyouko agreed, and the other two nodded in unison, “Whatever it is, Nagisa and Yuma said that Homura emerged from that space rock,” The redhead pointed at some strange inscription, “And above all, I can read that weird gibberish.”

 

“So you’re saying Akemi-san was somehow in that meteorite? And that…” She drew closer to the mysterious meteorite, “You can read this?” Mami’s eyes focused on the strange runes. They oozed with power, “Oh my…” Surprise etched on her face, “I can read this too...It says Eternal Feminine...doesn’t it?”

 

“Yuma has no idea what it means…” Yuma pondered. 

 

“I think...I do…” Nagisa rubbed her chin to everyone else’s surprise. “I think...It was about a beautiful Goddess.”

 

“A beautiful goddess?” Yuma asked sheepishly. 

 

“Yes! One that would save all magical girls!”   
  
“What the hell does that have to do with Sayaka’s disappearance?!” Kyouko yelled. 

 

[]

 

The moment the time traveler refused, she felt the world shake. The Demon’s magical power rose to unbelievable heights, and for a moment - the house turned into a labyrinth filled with torture weapons. It quickly dissipated, however. Her demonic counterpart forced herself to relax, and nonchalantly waved her hair with her right hand. 

 

All Clara Dolls shook with fear. 

 

The magical girl gulped, “My answer is still no.”

 

A sudden wave of strength pushed Homura out of her seat, and was sent flying. Even her shield wasn’t able to fully block the attack, as pieces of her uniform were burned off. She had several second to third degree burns already. “Agh!!!” 

 

As she was flung around like a paper doll, Homura noticed that her surroundings had permanently turned into a labyrinth far different from her home. 

 

She broke through a large rusted pole that maintained a spiked ceiling. It came crashing down, but Homura managed to tilt her shield with time magic, and just narrowly dodged the impact. Blood dripped down from her forehead and onto her eye. 

 

Her vision turned red from the blood that dirtied her eye. She saw The Demon elegantly rise to her feet, and saw a frightening view. 

 

The Demon’s wings sprouted forth, with the Clara Dolls materializing behind her, attached to her wings like tentacles. She charged toward the time traveler, with the full force of fourteen Clara Dolls aiming their spears at Homura. 

 

In that instant, she felt a surge of despair. What she looked at was no longer another version of her - it was nothing more than a monster drunk on a deity’s power. They broke through all obstacles that stood in front of them and the raven magical girl. 

 

The labyrinth she was imprisoned in was filled with many hallways and doors. No matter how many doors she closed behind her, the Clara Dolls would break through each and every one of them with The Demon in pursuit. 

 

She heard The Demon’s voice echo, “I would steal for  _ her _ ,” Homura nearly quaked from the voice’s power, “I would die for  _ her… _ .”

 

The Demon’s voice became distorted and hoarse the closer she got to her quarry. Each time Homura activated her time magic, it appeared to have less and less of an effect on the world around her. 

 

At a time, her time stop would last for a good minute. Now, it only lasted about five seconds and it appeared to get shorter. 

 

“This shield is a testament to my love for Madoka! You threw that away!” The time traveler yelled back, “It stayed with me for over ten whole years!!!”

 

“It’s just simple nostalgia. This other good-for-nothing is just plain stupid!” Vanity laughed. 

 

“I find it disgusting how she looks down on us!!” Pride yelled out. 

 

The Demon raised her hand, with her Dark Orb glowing vibrantly. Shadows of Clara Dolls clad in dark red energy spawned from the time traveler’s shadow, and latched onto her feet, holding her in place. Unable to run, the raven-haired magical girl raised her shield. 

 

A wicked smile spread across her opponent’s face who raised her beautiful dark-black wings, and extended her feathers. 

 

“I gotta block-” Immediately, a downpour of feathers rained down on her like fierce arrows. Her shield was only able to block a few, as some stray feathers grazed her shoulders, cheek, and legs. “Ugggh!!” The time traveler yelped in pain. 

 

Bit by bit, she saw the cracks in her shield form. 

 

“All I wanted was for you to remove that shield. Tell me, why didn’t you do it?”

 

“I can’t throw away the proof of my hard work.”

 

The Demon scoffed, “Is that all? I expected better from you.” Instantly, she charged with inhuman speed towards Homura, and kicked her straight in the stomach. 

 

The sheer force of it sent the magical girl scraping across the labyrinth floor, nearly breaking her bones along the process. Performing a backflip, she desperately tried to stay conscious on her two feet. 

 

In a flash, a leg pounded against Homura’s chin. She was lifted up in the air, and saw blood escape from her mouth. A sudden push pounded her on the ground. The Demon grasped her black collar, and raised her face-to-face. 

 

“Look at you, pathetic,” The Demon gazed straight into her human counterpart’s eyes, and saw a flare of rebellion in the time traveler’s eyes. Without warning, The Demon raised her foot. 

 

**_CRACK._ **

 

“Agggh!!!!” Homura cried out as she lost all of her strength in an instant. She fell head first to the ground, and saw what she feared. 

 

Her right leg had been broken so badly she could see the bone of her knee tearing through the skin. Blood had splattered around her. She couldn’t lift her heavy arms weighed down by pain. 

 

“Disappointing.” Her demonic counterpart went a step back, and several dozen hands spawned from her back. Each and every single one of them were made of deep shadows capable of engulfing the sun. 

 

“Goodbye.”

 

Homura shut her eyes and resigned herself to her fate. “...Madoka…”

 

The execution never arrived. 

 

She slowly opened her eyes, and saw something incredible. 

 

The Clara Doll of Stupidity - Manuke had raised her hand against her creator. With every bone in the doll’s body, she raised the spear of darkness and pummeled The Demon. It was just enough strength to send The Demon flying across the labyrinth. However, the monstrous girl immediately jumped back on her feet and charged against StupidLooking. 

 

The other Clara Dolls spawned behind The Demon, and aimed their spears against the rogue Clara Doll.

 

StupidLooking pierced her spear on the ground and summoned a portal of darkness. Without wasting a single moment, she grabbed onto the time traveler and jumped feet first into the unknown. 

 

Right before the portal closed, The Demon’s hands latched onto its sides, and pried it open. “Find that traitor doll and kill it,” She ordered the dolls as she turned to Love, “Wear your magical girl uniform and equip your bow. We won’t give them a moment’s rest.”

 

The tainted dolls jumped into the opened portal. “I won’t let this dream end,” The Demon declared, as she spread her wings and dived into the portal. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late chapter. As punishment I made it a little longer. It's my longest chapter so far.
> 
>  
> 
> I actually wasn’t planning on having a battle between Homura and Homucifer happen until way later. It just sort of...happened. 
> 
>  
> 
> Hope no one acted out of character. 
> 
>  
> 
> Enjoy.


	16. Chapter 14: Preparation

 

Her wide raven-like wings charged downward against the reality vortex, with her reddish-violet pupils glaring with rage and determination. The one person she thought would never betray her had come to stab her in the back - herself. The Demon bit her lip in pure maddening frustration. She will push her unforgiving rage toward the human known as Homura Akemi. 

 

The Clara Dolls that accompanied her felt this frustration from her, and shivered in fear. 

 

A bright flash of light overwhelmed the deity of darkness and her followers. Then, her two feet landed on a vast desert of white sand. She looked upward, and saw a purplish hue of a sky. Dozens of fallen skyscrapers were spread out before her. “Where  _ are  _ you?” She whispered to herself. 

 

Two reddish-violet eyes scanned the area, before landing on the group of Clara Dolls that stood snickering behind her. “All of you, find them. Search every nook and cranny if you have to.”

 

“Aye aye, good-for-nothing!!!” 

 

They all transformed into blobs of shadow and extended into the vast layout of this new labyrinth. 

 

The Demon took a step forward, and something beeped. “What?” She looked down on her left leg, and noticed something beeping red. It was a mine. Scratch that, it was several mines that surrounded her like a circle. 

 

Without giving her a chance to escape, the mines released a flame of explosions simultaneously. Immediately dispersing the flames by the flap of her wings, The Demon rose upwards to the sky, and locked onto a shielded Homura Akemi, who aimed a portable machine gun straight at her. 

 

The magical girl pressed the trigger and unloaded a barrage of hot metal needles that dared to tear through The Demon’s flesh. 

 

As a counter, the eldritch deity revealed a purple force field that protected her from incoming damage. Then she felt a sharp pain from her back out to her chest. “Hmph!” The raven-haired fiend noticed a black spear form out of her chest. It was Stupid-Looking’s weapon. 

 

Quickly, the raven-haired deity pulled it out without hesitation. No blood whatsoever spilled out of her body. Only shadows emerged from her wound splurged outward, but only to close her wound. 

 

It was the final straw.

 

There was not a speck of humanity inside The Demon known as Homura Akemi. 

 

“Clara Dolls! Attack!” She ordered, but there was no sign of them, “What did you do to them?” The Demon questioned Homura, while crushing the shadowy spear. 

 

The raven-haired magical girl silently pointed toward an area behind her, revealing an entire building crushing the thirteen Clara Dolls. “I see. While you bombarded me with your rockets, you also detonated a building nearby, trapping the familiars.” The Demon queried, then snapped her fingers.

 

An array of purple arrows rained down on the magical girl. Quickly, she pushed her shield upwards, blocking the attack fiercely. 

 

In the distance, the final Clara Doll revealed itself - Love. She was identical to Homura Akemi - except she donned the black rose-shaped bow rather than a shield. 

 

Stupid-Looking moved next to Homura Akemi and materialized another shadow spear. She clenched it against her chest. 

 

Homura Akemi faced The Demon.

 

Stupid-Looking faced Love. 

 

Charging without restraint, The Demon closed the gap between her and her counterpart in a matter of seconds, but something rang beneath The Demon’s feet. She looked down, confused as she saw a flash of bright orange light. 

 

A mine detonated from under her feet, catching her wings on fire. As Homura tried to enlarge the distance, a blackened hand emerged from the dusty smoke and latched firmly against her neck, and raised her up above the ground and into the sky. 

 

The grip was so strong. Homura felt her neck being squeezed into a windpipe. 

 

“I’m doing this for Madoka. For the world. Why can’t you understand that?” The eldritch deity tilted her head, confused as to her counterpart’s unpredictable actions. 

 

“B-because...this isn’t just about Madoka...You’re destroying everyone and everything else in the process…” Homura just barely squeezed out those words, before The Demon gave her a disapproving look and flung her straight into the debris of a far-off fallen skyscraper. “When she wakes up, and she will, the first thing she’ll see is everything you’ve destroyed.”

 

Glass cut the raven-haired time traveler’s cheeks, pieces of wood penetrated her knees. The impact scraped off a ton of skin from her elbows. Blood dripped off from her forehead and into her irritated eye. 

 

With an intense force, The Demon dropped down from the heavens and behind her twin. Revealing her Dark Orb, The Demon’s palm emanated a purplish glow of power, and aimed at Homura Akemi. 

 

[]

 

Love pulled back an arrow made solely of amethyst energy and fired against Stupid-Looking, her former sister. 

 

The dumb doll scurried her feet to cover behind a fallen metallic door. She heard the clanks against the door.

 

One.

 

Two. 

 

Three.

 

The bombardment of arrows kept going for what seemed like an eternity. Then the arrows abruptly stopped, and footsteps echoed near her. 

 

Stupid-Looking looked up, and found Love jumped over her, arrow and bow in hand. 

 

The Doll cartwheeled barely out of the way, and the arrows exploded upon impact against the soft white sand which created a burst of a mushroom cloud consisting solely of colorless snow-like sand. 

 

“Our Pink Goddess will be sad! She is SAD!” The naive doll yelled out against the fifteenth doll, who raised her eyebrow in disagreement. 

 

“She won’t be as long as she doesn’t find out,” Love coldly stated this like a fact. “She won’t find out.”

 

“She is already SAD!” Stupid-Looking screamed, as she charged toward Love with her dark spear in hand, threatening to stab right through Love’s heart. 

 

The fake magical girl took a step back, and swiftly dodged the attack, and pummeled her opponent full-force with her bow. The sheer force of the blow brought down the ignorant doll to her knees. 

 

“How do you know what she feels? You don’t understand her,” Love claimed.

 

“You don’t either!”

 

[]

 

Mami Tomoe gazed upon the meteorite. Somehow, for some reason, her soul gem glowed in sync with this strange object. It was as though it fell from the heavens themselves. 

 

It emanated a unique and nearly overwhelming power.  _ Why doesn’t anyone else notice this?  _ The twin-tailed magical girl thought to herself. She couldn’t read the runes like Kyouko could, but she felt something from it as well. 

 

Maybe this was the key to finding Sayaka, or maybe it wasn’t. The upperclassman magical girl wasn’t entirely certain, but she was willing to try. 

 

“Sakura-san, Yuma-san, and Bebe, please help me carry this back to my house,” She asked the trio of magical girls before her. 

 

“Huh? What’re you gonna do with it?” Kyouko asked curiously. 

 

“I want to see if my speculations are correct. And if so, maybe Akemi-san really does have something to do with Miki-san’s disappearance.”

 

[]

 

They brought the massive meteorite into Mami’s oversized apartment, with Yuma and Nagisa clearly out of breath. “Yuma’s all out of breath...please don’t ask Yuma to do that again…” Yuma cried out.

 

“T-that’s right, Mami! I thought my arms were going to fall out!” Nagisa complained. 

 

“Sorry!” Mami winked, “I’ll make it up to you two with tea and sweets.”

 

“Hey! What about me?!” Kyouko turned with a shocked expression, “I practically did most of the work heavy-lifting this damn thing over here!”

 

“Hahaha don’t worry, Sakura-san. I’ll make some for you two. Now, I want to study this meteorite for a bit, so you guys can wait in the living room. I’ll make the tea and sweets in a moment.”

 

“Yes~” The three younger magical girls nodded as they dashed to the living room, eager to eat their sweets. 

 

“Now, let’s see what’s so mysterious about this thing,” Mami muttered to herself as she rolled up her sleeves. She materialized a few ribbons, and slithered them like snakes into any opening the meteorite had. 

 

However, she felt a sudden sting that surfaced from the end of her ribbons. Quickly, she pulled her ribbons out of the strange meteorite, and noticed they had been scorched by whatever power was stored in the meteorite. 

 

“What in the world?”

 

[]

 

Sand twirled in a whirlwind as flashes of bright orange light overwhelmed the background. Shockwaves sent countless debris flying across the distance. 

 

The labyrinth was slowly being torn apart from the inside as cracks formed against the amethyst sky. 

 

“Stun mines?” An electrical current surged through The Demon’s body, burning it from the inside, but the fiend simply shrugged it off and observed the stun mine closely. It was circular in nature. “I don’t remember ever installing something like this in my arsenal.”

 

“I took some precautions,” Homura limped away from the unimpressed eldritch deity, trying to lose her counterpart through the countless hallways she encountered in the torn-down skyscraper. 

 

As she escaped from her pursuer, the time traveler found an ajar elevator door, and slid right under it.  _ A good hiding spot,  _ She thought to herself. 

 

Using what little time she had, the magical girl searched through her inner workings of her time-shield, searching past countless weapons ranging from knives to swords to guns to rockets to even weapons of mass destruction.

 

_ I need something to take her down non-lethally. What can I use?  _

 

[]

 

The Demon didn’t even try to avoid the countless traps her time traveling counterpart laid out for her. Mines, Stun Mines, Tripwires, mustard gas, tear gas, no amount of traps could stop the eldritch deity from her advancement. 

 

_ This is getting annoying.  _ “None of these mundane weapons can stop me in the slightest, you do realize that right?”

 

The countless scars and burns that branded themselves on her body were quickly whisked away by her unfathomable regeneration ability.  

Her black boot stomped on a tiny ember, sniffing its light out. Every step she took snuffed the life out of objects, quickly rusting them until they shattered. 

 

She was walking death. 

 

The air around her became toxic, the metallic ground beneath her became rust. Her presence infected the area around her with a powerful poison that degenerated everything. 

 

**_“I will find you.”_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look at that, a chapter released on my birthday. Awesome. Hopefully the quality hasn’t gone down, just had a really crappy month and really crappy birthday. This month hasn’t treated me very well. 
> 
>  
> 
> But I won’t stop writing this series. I actually want to finish it and I will. Then I might either get into a sequel or start the Re:Zero series. Depending how much of an audience I gather. 
> 
>  
> 
> Hopefully you guys like it.


	17. Chapter 15: Memory Lane I

 

_ Step.  _

_ Step. _

_ Step. _

 

Sweat dripped from the sweaty and smoothly rounded forehead of the raven-haired girl. Her lungs pushed out of her chest as she breathed in erratically, obviously afraid of what was coming to her. She clutched her pistol close to her breast, trying to formulate several different contingency plans against her unstoppable juggernaut of an opponent. 

 

_ Sayaka Miki. If I can buy time just enough to find her, I can add a bit more firepower to my arsenal. It won’t be much, but it’s certainly better than this,  _ The time traveler thought to herself. For now, she needed a grand escape. She certainly couldn’t leave the elevator, for the eldritch deity would instantly find her. 

 

A brilliant idea popped into her head. Homura looked upward, and saw a moveable hatch. She could use that to move between floors without The Demon catching her. 

 

With one big jump, she grabbed onto the hatch, and pulled it downward. Like an acrobatic athlete, she flipped through it and climbed through the ropes that held the elevator in place with relative ease. 

 

It was a good thing Homura had practiced her physical abilities rather than purely relying on magic. Times like these made her grateful for her own grueling work-out practice sessions. 

 

She realized she passed a floor when she noticed a giant hatch the size of doors facing right at her. The time traveler looked up, and counted the amount of door hatches. 

 

There were six in total. She was just barely on the second floor. The wire she used to climb up slowly started to dig and burn into her skin. It was a lasting pain, unlike a stab or tear through muscle that was painful yet instant. 

 

It was the lingering kind of pain. 

 

And yet she continued to climb to higher heights. That was the kind of person Akemi Homura was - a determined and undying flame. 

 

[]

 

The dolls parried their attacks flawlessly, reading into each other like the back of their hand. 

 

With each arrow fired by Love, StupidLooking would counter with her spear. The more human-like doll grew frustrated and summoned her eldritch wings formed of darkness and corruption. She lifted herself up with intense strength. 

 

The sheer act of flapping her wings sent aerial shockwaves toward the naive doll. StupidLooking pushed her spear against a fallen shrapnel of debris from a building, and held on tightly to avoid being sent flying by the mere shockwaves. 

 

_ For a dumb doll, she’s quick-witted, _ Love pondered,  _ But not quick enough!  _ She continued to flap her wings, paralyzing StupidLooking into one single spot. Aiming her bow, Love fired. 

 

She then felt a sharp pain in her right wing. The arrow grazed StupidLooking, and a malicious smile crossed her face. 

 

Love’s wings couldn’t sustain themselves in the air, and dissipated into a cloud of dark energy. Gravity pummeled the human doll into the harsh sand. 

 

She dived down with a fallen angel’s grace, with both feet planted firmly into the soft desert sand - if that was even possible. Her face twisted in an unforgiving rage and her eyes became fueled by hot lava as her veins on her forehead swelled from anger. 

 

The naive clara doll smiled. She got the better of the strongest of her sisters. It was a new feeling - a feeling of accomplishment. 

 

Without a word, Love pulled her arrow back on the bow, ready to fire. “Goodbye-”

 

The ground shook as a cloud of sand hurled up into the air. It was massive, nearly consuming everything around the two dolls. The only thing visible was a sea of black smoke. They felt a sudden surge of heat burn the uncovered hinges of their skin, and the sand threatened to bury them alive. 

 

From the core, The Demon flew upwards into the sky unscathed but clearly stunned as she clumsily tried to maintain balance in the air. 

 

“Love! Be on your guard! She’s using the smoke to camouflage!”

 

It was no use. The sound nearly ruptured the doll’s ears, and The Demon’s words were drowned in the roar of the massively heavy smoke. 

 

Love pushed herself up on her feet, and used magic to heal her burns.

 

Suddenly, Love fell her knee pushed down and instantly fell on her legs. Something slithered over her neck, and raised her upwards, slowly choking her. “G-gahh...D-dammi-”

 

The last thing she saw before being forced into a land of slumber was the silhouette of the original magical girl - Homura Akemi with her hand above her shield. The doll closed her eyes, oddly satisfied. 

 

StupidLooking felt a tug on her shoulder and saw the time traveler push a finger to her lips. “Shh,” The shield magical girl ran into the abyss with the doll, away from The Demon. 

 

The flying eldritch raven aimed at the smoke with a strange violet vortex forming around her palm. She fired the gathered dark energy and completely dissipated the black smoke. 

 

Her violet orbs scanned the barren desert, but found no signs of her opponent. Only a half-buried Love was spotted. She looked absolutely destroyed and beat, but with a strangely solemn expression across her face. 

 

The eldritch raven slowly descended from the heavens, and pulled her beloved doll close to her chest. A new emotion warped itself in The Demon’s heart, pulling and pushing it like a knot. “I didn’t expect her to use a nuke…”

 

For a moment, the labyrinth faded, almost like water. Someone was interfering with her personal reality.  _ External influence? No, it’s internal. They’re trying to...no. They aren’t breaking free. They’re looking for something. _

 

[]

 

“That was awesome! You made everything go boom!” The naive-yet-adorable doll flapped her arms around in excitement, “It was really really awesome!!!”

 

The time traveler had a slight-yet-warm smile cross her lips, but quickly became stoic again, “We don’t have much time. Do you know how to navigate around the labyrinth?”

 

“Hm..I do~, where would you want to go? Outside?”

 

“No, not yet. I want to go to Sayaka Miki’s cell.”

 

“Blueberry?! Are you gonna free her?!” She yelled out, oblivious to the consequences. 

 

“Shh! Yes, and I need you to take me there, as quietly as possible.”

 

StupidLooking tilted her head in thought, as if looking for a suitable answer. She racked her brains, her eyes turned orange-green with frustration, but she still couldn’t find the answer Homura wanted. “I can get you there, but I don’t think I can take you as quietly though...Mistress will instantly know about it. After all, this is her house. Her  _ eyes  _ and  _ ears _ .”

 

“A confrontation is unavoidable, huh…”

 

The doll nodded solemnly, and waved her hands upward. On cue, a strange purplish-red vortex formed in StupidLooking’s arms. Homura peeked in, and saw a stunning scenery.

 

Multiple worlds converged into one single point and separated into several different pathways, almost like an impossible maze. The time traveler couldn’t help but gaze in awe. 

 

“Found it!” The doll yelled out as she pointed toward two huge black steel doors that came from something akin to the dark ages. “That’s where blueberry is at!”

 

“Blue-Huh?” The shield magical girl was flabbergasted, but quickly regained her wits, “Nevermind. Let’s go.”

 

The naive doll stepped forward into the vortex first, and held her arms through the wormhole, to give Homura some support. She grabbed onto the doll’s outstretched hands. 

 

In that moment, the scenery changed instantly. It was now the pathway to Mitakihara Middle School. Several bystanders walked passed the confused time traveler. Unlike the dark corridors of the labyrinth, it was bright out with the sun happily at full strength. 

 

StupidLooking was nowhere to be found. The trees swayed with an unnaturally heavy breeze. Black feathers constantly fell from the sky like some kind of disastrous omen. The air was stiff and stunk of a strange sulfur. No one around her paid attention to the horrid stench, however. 

 

There, off in the distance was a beautiful rounded table designed for two was filled with strange runic letters. Over it was a purplish-gold parasol that glistened in the sunlight. The two chairs were made of pure gold. 

 

The general public didn’t notice it. It was as if it was invisible to them. A single raven-haired girl sat in one of these two chairs, playing with a violet glass-like drink. Her lips moved, as though she was having a conversation with some unknown invisible stranger. A smile curled up her lips. 

 

Homura Akemi moved toward her counterpart. Her footsteps were loud enough to catch her enemy’s attention, but The Demon was undeterred and didn’t give the slightest bit of attention to the time traveler. That is, until the time traveler spoke out to her. 

 

“How did you bring me here?” She demanded an answer. 

 

The eldritch deity slowly turned her eyes to the magical girl, and smiled. “Take a seat,” She offered. 

 

As the time traveler was about to take the empty chair, The Demon stopped her by raising her palm, “Wait. Someone’s already sitting there.”

 

_ Someone? Who? _

 

“Sit on this one,” With a wave of her hand, The Demon materialized a third golden chair to her left, “Sit on that one,” She repeated herself. 

 

The time traveler pulled the chair and folded her skirt elegantly before finally resting on the chair. She noticed the violet glass, and couldn’t help but notice that her soul gem reacted to it similarly to that of a witch’s aura. It held tons of energy - that of despair. “How did you bring me here?” She repeated her query. 

 

“You aren’t here physically, if that’s what you’re wondering. Which is why I’m not here strangling you right now. If anything, your mind is in here. In this miniature mental labyrinth,” The eldritch deity swished her elegant glass, pondering the deep violet drink in its contents, “You’re the second person to have come here.”

 

“Sayaka Miki,” The time traveler answered. 

 

“Yes, Sayaka Miki. So you do remember that piece of information.”

 

“ _ Why _ did you bring me here?” 

 

The Demon stood up without warning, and clunked her heels together, a  _ clank!  _ echoed through the false labyrinth. Her school uniform melted and evolved into a black dress - that of a black swan. It was a dress that exposed her thin yet elegant shoulders and back. It accented her figure, and gave her a feeling of ‘eternity’.

 

With a clap of her hands, the bright sun turned into the howling moon, the once-sturdy cement warped into a never-ending sand, stretching far and wide into the distance. In the core of it all laid one single frail girl - Homura Akemi, who was in a deep sleep. She clutched her black rose-shaped bow tightly to her chest, her eyelids twitching as she experienced a strange - no, unique dream. “This is where  _ I  _ was born,” The Demon turned into a cloud of black smoke and warped next to the sleeping beauty, “This is where we  _ succeeded _ .”

 

She clapped her hands again, and the scenery warped and turned in on itself. It was no longer the outdoor desert, but a small cramped hospital room, with a shy and timid girl in braids. “And this is where it all began.” Her surreal voice was both far away and very close by. 

 

The eldritch deity warped behind the time traveler and slid her gloved hands around her neck, and whispered in her ear. “That’s right, Homura Akemi. We are in memory lane. You are going to remember everything you conveniently forgot. From our greatest triumphs to our...worst  **_failures_ ** .”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author Notes:
> 
>  
> 
> I got tired of using the term “The Demon” over and over again, so I borrowed a term from “A Wish within Darkness” fanfiction. 
> 
>  
> 
> So I am planning to have at least three endings. I’m going to call them “Judgement”, “The Void”, and “Facade”. 
> 
>  
> 
> I was actually not planning to have a memory lane arc. It just...sorta happened. 
> 
>  
> 
> Hope you enjoyed the chapter.


	18. Chapter 16: Memory Lane II

 

“You were born with a heart condition. One that would continue to hinder and eventually destroy what little life you had,” The Demon spawned near the sleeping patient, pushing her black bangs out of her face, “This is what you were. What  _ we  _ were.”

 

The time traveler didn’t speak. A heavy heart filled her with a melancholic regret, one her stone-cold exterior couldn’t shake off. She saw her counterpart’s reddish amethyst eyes gaze into the sleeping beauty’s strangely calm and relaxed expression. 

 

Her chest pushed up and fell back down in slow rhythm. The patient’s sleep was hindered only by the red-rimmed glasses on her eyes. The Demon quietly removed them and placed them on a table. 

 

“Remember those nights? Those long nights you would wait for our parents to come back from Germany. To give you - us, some semblance of parental care.”

 

“I barely even remember them,” Homura spoke up, “I see no point in what you’re trying to do.”

 

“That’s true, even I can’t recall them, but…” On cue, the patient room doors opened. An elderly couple stepped through the dim-lighted room, and next to the sleeping Homura. 

 

To the two invisible Homuras, they were nothing more than strangers, but to the girl who slept before them - they were her parents. The mother raised her hand and caressed the patient’s cheek with a slightly sad smile on her face. 

 

Her father looked at her with a complicated expression - one filled with hidden sadness. He was also angry - angry that his daughter had to live life sheltered and vulnerable. 

 

“Being a deity certainly has its perks. It allows me to see beyond just my memories,including the past of any and all timelines I existed in. It allowed me to learn many things. Our parents weren’t the self-indulgent monsters we made them out to be. Oh no. They cared. A lot. They still do,” She clapped her hands, ending the scene. 

 

“Wait!” The time traveler yelled out desperately.

 

“Hm?” The eldritch deity tilted her head and feigned curiosity. 

 

“Let me see them again.”

 

For a split-second, a wide smile crossed The Demon’s face, but quickly faded away as she clapped her hands once more, revealing the couple once more. They were crying, comforting each other. 

 

The rain complemented their melancholic sadness as it washed away their tears with utmost care. 

 

“So those are my parents…”

 

“We’ve lived a good ten years reliving the same month over and over and over and over again,” The Demon whisked the scenery away, “It’s only natural we would forget about them.”

 

The time traveler kept quiet. Her eldritch counterpart gazed at her slightly sullen expression, and turned away, once again warping the scenery. 

 

It was of Homura’s first time in Mitakihara Middle School. Her braided hair and red-rimmed glasses spoke volumes of just how  _ nervous  _ she was. “This was revolutionary. No one could have suspected that such a shy and timid unimportant girl like her would end up dethroning God herself.”

 

A familiar pink-haired girl smiled at the nervous wreck of a girl. After her introduction, several different students bombarded the raven-haired girl with questions. However, Madoka Kaname saved her from all of that. 

 

She gave an excuse to go to the infirmary with the transfer student and eased her with unimportant chit chat. 

 

“Your name is so cool!”

 

“I-I don’t know about that…”

 

This conversation gave a warm smile to the time traveler’s stoic facade. It was something she’d never forget. Her entire reason to exist was to protect Madoka. After all, she is her source of happiness. But The Demon tainted the scenery to something the time traveler had forgotten. 

 

It felt familiar but strange to the shield magical girl. She saw Madoka and herself lying down on a piece of rubble against a purplish puddle. They laid out their hands which showed their severely tainted grief seeds. 

 

“Hey, how about we become monsters together...” The braided raven-haired girl turned toward the saddened Madoka, “And turn this world upside-down?”

 

Madoka smiled.

 

The Demon paused the scene like it was something simply out of a TV screen, “To this day, I wonder, why didn’t she agree with me?”

“I...remember this…”

 

“You and I have always loved Madoka.”

 

The scene changed once more, revealing a time after Madoka’s ascension. The Homura Akemi of that time pulled out her black bow - however, it was missing a distinct black rose on its top. 

 

Her purplish wings scattered and ripped apart the Wraiths, but after a while they overwhelmed her, stealing her red ribbon and a part of her powers. 

 

“To be more specific, they didn’t just steal a part of my powers, they also stole my shield. The shield I fervently locked away out of fear for the worst.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Because one day, curiosity got the best of me. I desperately wanted to see Madoka again, so I used my shield to try to time travel back in time. But what I saw...was pure chaos,” The Demon shuttered. Something about what she saw still haunted her to this day. “All that existed in the past was Kriemhild Gretchen. And as such, I locked my shield away, so that I would never be tempted in trying to find Madoka again.”

 

“But things didn’t work out that way.”

 

“No, of course not,” The Demon laughed, “The wraiths ended up mutating because of that power. My memories became distorted, I-no we lost faith in the existence known as Madoka, and in the end, I was given a choice.”

 

“To pick between the bow and the shield,” The time traveler relearned these memories. 

 

“Yes. The shield to protect Madoka, or the bow to destroy all those who oppose her. I destroyed the shield, and used the bow. However, the bow was tainted by not just the Wraiths, but by an emotion that far surpassed Hope and Despair. It was  **_Love_ ** . It transformed into the black rose bow.” The Demon hugged herself as she smiled in some sick pleasure. 

 

“With the last bit of the shield’s power, time was reset back to a little while after Sayaka’s death from the Wraiths. My soul gem was forever changed, even after the time reset. But I wasn’t the only one to remember what happened.”

 

“Kyubey..”

 

The Demon nodded in agreement, “Yes. That rat held onto a small piece of the shield and used it to fuel its damned experiment. It captured me after I was surrounded by Wraiths once more, and used  **_ME_ ** as bait against Madoka.”

 

The time traveler clenched her hands in anger. 

 

Her eldritch twin continued to talk, “We weren’t hiding in some abandoned warehouse drinking our sorrows away, or crying our lungs out for Madoka to come back. No, we continued to fight. And for that…”

 

Homura noticed a strange expression crossed The Demon’s face, her eyes transformed into that of a lizard’s pupils, “I don’t  **_NEED_ ** the Law of Cycles.”

 

“No!” A sudden panic seized the time traveler by the shoulders. She had to stop her demonized counterpart right here, right now, “That’s not what I-”

 

“I will keep Madoka happy, and for that I will do  **_ANYTHING_ ** !”

 

A whirlwind of shadows pushed the time traveler away from the eldritch deity as the scenes started to melt and wither away. In an instant, Homura opened her eyes. 

 

[]

 

The raven-haired girl found herself holding onto StupidLooking’s hands. Her breathing became rapid and disjointed. The doll looked at her with confused worry. “Are you okay?” She asked innocently. 

 

“Y-yes. Sorry, I lost myself there for a moment,” She entered the portal and found herself in front of a large witch whose arms were detained by massive chains, and a familiar bluenette pinned down by shadow spears in the middle. Her face was covered by a strange mask that covered her nose down to her chin. Sayaka was sleeping peacefully, almost serene. 

 

The runes across her spoke of the sadness that would be brought about from the Goddess’s resurrection. They barred the knight from moving, placing her in some sort of trance. 

 

Homura tore out a pistol from her shield and fired at the runes, breaking the seal bit by bit. 

 

With each broken seal, magical energy would burst and overflow, nearly electrocuting the time traveler and her naive companion, but Homura didn’t stop. She kept breaking the runes and finally found herself against the chains that imprisoned the archangel knight. 

 

It was time. 

 

A vortex of magic rippled across the labyrinth. The sheer amount of magic spilling out of the seals was like a tsunami, drowning everything and everyone in it. 

 

Its light was unfathomable and holy, and it concentrated into a single bright silhouette. Sayaka Miki was finally freed. 

 

[]

 

Mami Tomoe felt  _ something _ in the dark corners of her mind, something  _ bright _ . Whatever insecurities about this life she had been living had finally been cleared as she held onto this radioactive meteorite. 

 

The feeling felt nostalgic and breath-taking. She remembered a beautiful pink Goddess that descended from the heavens. 

 

She remembered her beauty, her radiance, her smile. Mami wondered how anyone could have forgotten her. 

 

Something was wrong in this world, something horribly wrong. 

 

She remembered darkness. An eternal darkness that threatened to swallow the holy light. It was a typhoon of sinister shadows. In the end, it brought down the Goddess and stole her human half. 

 

Without warning, its energy encompassed everything in sight, reaching out even to the stars. 

 

“We’re all living in one giant labyrinth…” The drill-haired blonde realized. “Who was it...who trapped us in here…” The more she tried to remember, the larger the pain in the side of her head grew. 

 

“Why can’t I...remember…”

 

[]

 

“So you’re telling me that somehow you and that demon were once one person and that by some reason or another you two split up and now are...what? I’m lost,” The bluenette scratched her head. Homura sighed, she wished Sayaka had more brain cells than this. 

 

“In layman’s terms, I am the ‘good’ Homura, and the other me is the ‘bad’ one. That’s all you really need to know at the moment,” She waved her hair pridefully, “We don’t have a lot of time. We need to get out of this labyrinth soon and fast-”

 

The labyrinth quaked with dark energy. Its buildings and everything in it started to melt like liquid. The stench of sulfur became prominent. Echoes of laughter could be heard from a distance. 

 

“Open the portal!” Homura ordered the naive doll, who frantically materialized its spear to cut a hole in the labyrinth. 

 

“It’s open!” The doll yelled. 

 

“Go! I’ll watch your back!” The time traveler yelled as everything started to collapse around them. 

 

The doll went first into the portal, and it held onto Sayaka’s hand. After the two settled themselves outside, the knight stretched out her hand. “Grab my hand!” 

 

As Homura grabbed Sayaka’s hand, a chill was sent down the knight’s spine as she felt the time traveler twitch. There was a sudden emptiness in the raven-haired girl’s amethyst eyes as she laid unnaturally still. 

 

Sayaka stared wide-eyed at Homura Akemi for what felt like forever. It was as though time had stopped around them, and all that remained was a deep dark feeling that it was over for someone. 

 

“H-Homura?”

 

The raven-haired girl slowly looked down to the bottom of her stomach, and found a black-gloved hand protruding out of her gut, painted by her own blood. Red-scarlet liquid dropped from her lips and winced in pain as the hand grabbed from inside her stomach. 

 

“Homura!!!”

 

The time traveler was dragged into the darkness of the collapsed labyrinth. The portal shut down.

 

They collapsed on their knees. Sayaka and StupidLooking found themselves outside Homura’s home and watched as it slowly faded from existence. 

 

**Chapter End**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author Notes:
> 
>  
> 
> I caught a bad case of writer’s block. I don’t know whether it was because it’s Thanksgiving Day or whatnot. So the chapter might have bad quality. Hope you guys enjoyed it though. I rushed the memory lane arc because I sorta got bored of it, and I don’t want to explain the entirety of the Wraith arc. There’s a manga for that. 
> 
>  
> 
> Also, since I got quite a lot of good reviews, I’ll make another chapter for “Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Pilgrimage”. Though I’ll keep it akin to a one-shot format with no real discernable plot for a while. I want it to focus on the mentality of the girls after the defeat of Walpurgisnaucht. 
> 
>  
> 
> PS: Happy thanksgiving!


	19. Chapter 17: Seven Deadly Sins

**Seven Deadly Sins**

 

The blonde upperclassman felt something coursing through her veins, adding power and protection to her. She felt something benevolent and warm flow through her as her body emanated a faint golden light. Mami Tomoe looked at her soul gem as it cleaned out its impurities on its own and shone brighter than ever before. 

 

She felt a calmness, one that eased away any doubts and incomprehensible feelings in her heart. Mami Tomoe finally learned the truth. No, she remembered. 

 

And now it was time to take the fight to The Demon. 

 

[] []

 

Sayaka and the naive Clara Doll skimped across the rooftops of Mitakihara City, desperately fleeing from the dangerous predators. The other Clara Dolls moved through the city’s building shadows at a terrifying rate. 

 

Whatever kind of speed the blue-haired knight and her stupid doll put into the soles of their feet changed nothing. The Clara Dolls were always just one step away from capturing them. Sayaka felt them whisper to her, calling her all kinds of names. 

 

“Silly knight!”

 

“There’s no room for a plucked angel like you!!!”

 

“I really really just want to tear you to pieces and stuff you into a box! Dummy! Dummy!”

 

The fiendish dolls hurled their shadow spears against their quarry. Sayaka materialized two swords out of light, and parried several spears that were propelled to her and her newfound ally. 

 

A Clara Doll - Pride, slithered its way into Sayaka’s shadow, and latched onto her, slowly choking her. “Agh! Sh-shit!”

 

But immediately, StupidLooking knocked her prideful sister off of the blue knight and tore a hole through her kneecap with a shadow spear, pinning Pride to the building’s silver-plated roof. “Shut up!” She yelled, “I will see the pink Goddess!!!!”

 

“We don’t have enough time, let’s go!”  Sayaka dragged the stupid doll by the arm, and jumped from rooftop to rooftop in an attempt to shake off their opponents. “Dammit! My soul gem’s gone all bonkers ever since I woke up, and I don’t have enough magic to summon Oktavia!” She cursed herself mentally. 

 

Mitakihara Middle School came into view, but the sun that once hovered above the heroes darkened and switched places with the half-moon at an alarming speed. Crows materialized out of a helix of shades and barreled toward the quarry. 

 

They scratched and tore pieces of skin off of the blue-haired knight. She winced in pain, but continued to run forward. “Just five more minutes till I reach Mami’s house!”

 

No answer from her partner. 

 

“Hello? Where’d you-” She was left speechless. How could she not have noticed?

 

Behind her, five dolls had pinned down StupidLooking in a cross of shades, spears protruding out of her arms and legs. The poor doll didn’t have the strength to cry out. 

 

“You bastards!” Sayaka yelled out in a tiger-like rage, and prowled through three dolls that stood in her way, but the rest of the dolls threw spears at her shadow, paralyzing her, and pinned her down on the glass rooftop on Mitakihara Middle School. 

 

They smiled, fangs grinned out of their porcelain mouths with black malice against the sky-colored magical girl. With pure malevolent intent, the dolls eased in closer to the magical girl, so much that she could feel the coldness from their porcelain skin. 

 

They were as cold as ice and repulsive as sulfur.

 

The darkened sky suddenly shined a bright orange, and two familiar words echoed through the wind. 

 

“TIRO FINALE!”

 

The shadows were exorcised by the blinding light, washed away by purity. 

 

A silhouette emerged from the light. Two very familiar drill-tails flowed through the air. A brown russian hat wobbled from the jump. 

 

It was Mami Tomoe. Behind her were Kyouko Sakura, Nagisa Momoe and Yuma Chitose. 

 

“Sayaka!” The redhead was the first to cry out, “You’re here! Mami was right!” She jumped down and pushed the weakened Clara Dolls out of the way, and pushed her arms out to embrace the blue knight. 

 

“I’m so sorry!” Kyouko cried out as she held her tighter, “I’m sorry! I tried so hard to find you but couldn’t!” Her crimson pupils glared at the porcelain familiars in sheer rage. But her anger wasn’t aimed at them. 

 

She knew familiars were simply that - slaves. Creations and puppets to the one responsible for the universe-sized labyrinth. 

 

Her fury was directed at the malefactor responsible - Homura Akemi. 

 

Homura Akemi was the malefactor of greed. Homura Akemi felt malevolently wrathful. Homura Akemi was abnormally envious. Homura Akemi was insane with gluttony. Homura Akemi was an aberration of sloth. Homura Akemi was a prideful witch. Homura Akemi was enthralled with hopeless lust.

 

All for Madoka. 

 

And she dragged everyone else into her own fake lies and destructive impulses. 

 

“I never imagined she’d be such a sick bastard…” Kyouko looked over at Sayaka’s arms and noticed countless scars marred permanently on her skin into some kind of lizard-like pattern with wings. 

 

“I’m alright,” the other girl smiled meekly, “For now I need you guys to do me a favor, protect that doll that’s holed up in that cross!”

 

“Wait, what?!” Kyouko yelled out surprised. 

 

“Isn’t that one of those monsters that hurt you, Sayaka-oneechan?!” Nagisa cried.

 

“I think she’s probably on our side!” Nagisa countered, “Look at how they’re treating the poor thing!”

 

“You heard Miki-san! Protect that doll!!!” The blonde upperclassman yelled with such ferocity. Everyone in her group had a sudden fire in their eyes. 

 

The Holy Quintet was finally reunited again. 

 

[]

 

“Thank you for letting me in, Mister and Misses Kaname,” A raven-haired beauty bowed politely as she lifted the bottom of her dark purple dress, grabbing it by the frills, and her smooth black hair danced with her every movement. 

 

“Oh it’s no problem. A friend of Madoka’s is a friend of ours,” Tomohisa pushed his glasses up, “Come on in, no need to stand outside. She’s currently practicing ballet in dining hall.”

 

“Thank you,” She added quietly.

 

Junko made an “Oooh!” sound, as she grabbed a cold plastic water bottle and handed it to Homura, “Here, She’s probably thirsty by now. Hope you two have fun,” She said, as she waved the younger girl off. 

 

Homura Akemi’s wearisome amethyst eyes gazed through the pinkish hallways of the Kaname residence. A small sense of pride ruptured deep inside her heart as she swung the dining hall doors open, and saw a blob of pink spinning in a beautiful white dress. 

 

Madoka Kaname was the personification of purity. 

 

The raven-haired devil smiled meekly and tiredly, “Hello, Madoka.”

 

“Ah! Homura-chan! I was wondering when you’d stop by!” The little pinkish hamster-like girl was genuinely happy to see her friend, as she clasped their hands together, and noticed the half-frozen water bottle her friend carried. “Is that for me? Thank you!”

 

“Of course,” She said almost sheepishly, “Your mother felt you were exhausted from practice. How long have you been at it?”

 

“For about an hour,” Madoka said nonchalantly as she tilted her head in thought. 

 

“Take a break, it’s not good to push yourself too much.”

 

The Kaname girl dragged a wooden chair next to her raven-haired friend, and sat tiredly, as if all the exhaustion hit her all at once. 

 

“Are you alright, Madoka?” Homura asked sweetly. Her voice was filled with a charming sweetness, and it made Madoka’s heart flutter ever so slightly. 

 

“..Yeah, I’m fine,” She said, weakly. Her legs were fidgety, as a nervous question rolled off her tongue, “Hey, Homura-chan, can I ask you something?”

 

“You can ask,” A beautiful yet oddly eerie smile crept up her lips. 

 

“What did you mean by ‘Someday we’ll be enemies’ ?” 

 

Homura raised her right wrist to eye-level and materialized a watch out of thin air, surprising the other girl. It was read in runic format, something Madoka couldn’t understand. 

 

“It’s almost time,  _ Madoka _ .”

 

She rolled up her dresses’ sleeve from her right arm. Her skin underneath her clothes were swollen and infected, with pus about to burst from the oversized reddish pimples. 

 

_ My vessel can’t contain me for much longer...I’m going to need a new one.  _

 

[]

 

The Holy Quintet vs Twelve Clara Dolls. 

 

Under normal circumstances, the twelve clara dolls would have easily won, but with Mami’s newfound power, they were blown away. 

 

Mami’s ribbons were engulfed in holy flames, burning the eldritch familiars with exorcism-like effect. Their banshee-like screams pierced the ears of the magical girls, but the blonde magical girl continued her assault, ensnaring them in a vortex of white flame. 

 

“yOu FilTHy mAgiCaL GiRLS!!!!!!” 

 

“Holy crap...Mami is packing some serious firepower…”

 

“That’s Mami alright!!” Nagisa puffed her chest out happily. 

 

Sayaka motioned Nagisa near her, and pointed at the just-barely alive naive doll, StupidLooking. “Watch over her, alright? Do not enter the fight that’s about to happen, understand?”

 

“Huh? Why?” She asked innocently. 

 

_ I don’t want things to get complicated...If Homura still has her claws on you, I’d be forced to put you down,  _ “Just a really bad feeling,” The knight half-lied. 

 

Half-convinced, Yuma yielded, “I understand...I’ll protect the doll with my life!”

 

“That’s a good girl.”

 

[]

 

A wave of sharp pain jabbed at Homura’s head. She bit her tongue. She couldn’t allow herself to lose face in front of her beloved pink goddess. 

 

“Madoka,” She said.

 

“Yes?”

 

“Let’s practice at my house. There’s more space and I even have a stage there.”

 

A glint of light focused in on Madoka’s pupils as she smiled excitedly, “Seriously?! Let’s go!”

 

[]

 

“Now that I reallyyyy look at Homura’s home, it looks damn creepy. It’s weird how I never noticed, especially with all these crows flying around,” The redhead pointed at the unnecessarily large white mansion covered in the grim blue moonlight. “Are we ready to bust some asses?” She said as she materialized her red spear. 

 

“Yeah,” Everyone said in unison. 

 

“Remember what I said, Yuma, stay behind and protect that doll.” Sayaka gave one last warning to Yuma.

 

[]

 

“I haven’t been to your house lately! It’s just as huge as I remember it!” Madoka ran through the hallway like an excited child who ate too many candies, “You should invite me over more often!”

 

“I-I should, but you know. The search for Sayaka had been eating at my time.” Homura’s left hand supported itself on the hallway walls. 

 

Blood tainted its once-clean white paint. The skin under Homura’s palms started to separate and crack apart. The crimson fluid oozed out. Homura stayed behind Madoka so she wouldn’t notice her dire condition. It was painful just to keep her voice level. 

 

She clenched her gut. Her body started to bleed internally. She felt her organs rupture one by one. It got significantly harder to breath.

 

“...Yeah...I know,” A melancholic look trickled its way through Madoka’s expression, but she quickly shook it off, “But I have faith that you, Mami-senpai, Kyouko-chan, Yuma, and Nagisa-chan will find her. I have complete faith in you.”

 

Homura’s eyes winced.

 

**CHAPTER END**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author Notes:
> 
>  
> 
> I probably rushed this chapter and its events, but if I felt that if I dragged it out, the content would feel bland. 
> 
>  
> 
> I had intended for this series to be only 20 chapters long, but it’ll obviously go for longer. The whole ‘where’s Sayaka’ arc felt dragged, and I got bored of it. 
> 
>  
> 
> Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter!


	20. Chapter 18: All the Time in the World

“Huh?!” 

 

The scorching-bright headlights above Homura’s home seared into her dim amethyst pupils, with her teary eyes squinting as color slowly faded from her skin. Her vision tried to focus on a blob of pink and white that danced in front of her, but all she could see were glimpses of hope and regret. She tried to raise herself from the chair she placed herself on, but her body felt eerily heavy - like a thousand pounds. 

 

Homura felt her very bones pinned against the chair, and her flayed sickly skin tear apart bit by bit. She gasped for air like a fish out of water, but quickly shut her mouth so Madoka wouldn’t hear her. Cold sweat dropped down from the glands of her eyes down to the crevices of her neck and chest.

 

_ “A...flash nap?”  _ The raven-haired girl thought to herself,  _ “How...long was I out?”  _ She refocused her vision on Madoka, but it was still just a blur to her,  _ “Doesn’t look like I was out for very long…” _

 

“..mura-chan,” an echo of a voice passed through Homura’s ears like a whisper of a ghost, “What do you think of that-” Madoka’s pink orbs hovered over her friend and noticed something was off, “Are-are you okay?!” She rushed over to her gasping friend. 

 

“..Y-yes, just felt a little under the weather, that’s...a-all,” The amethyst-eyed girl reached over and supported herself on Madoka’s shoulder. “There’s some medicine in the bathroom cabinet, can you take me to it?”

 

“I’ll grab it, Homura-chan,” Madoka said worryingly, with a forced smile on her face, “Stay here, relax, and leave it to me!” The pink-haired girl vaguely remembered Homura telling her that she had been hospitalized for a long time. It struck her odd that the raven-haired girl was so lively during ballet, but maybe all that straining exercise caught up to her. 

 

“It’s in an orange bottle with the name Norvasc behind the mirror cabinet. A glass of water would be nice, too.” She smiled meekly. 

 

“ _ No problem _ !” Madoka replied in English, which made the stoic girl giggle. “Just stay here and relax!”

 

The little pink blob of energy busted out of the room, and Homura couldn’t help but smile to herself. 

 

_ “Even now, she still worries about me…”  _ Homura felt a pang of guilt cross her heart.  _ “I wish...this could have lasted a little longer.”  _ Her eyes leered across the room where Madoka was once at. 

 

The room that once shined from Madoka’s innocence was now bereft of any goodness it once had. 

 

[]

 

Without hesitation, Mami spawned her signature musket and a huge solar power revealed itself from out of its chambers and destroyed the barrier surrounding Homura’s home. 

 

It burned through whatever malefic power that shrouded the home into oblivion. “W-wow...what the hell, Mami?” Kyouko dropped her jaw in astonishment, “That’s some freaky power you got there…”

 

There was a fire of determination underneath Mami’s eyes. 

 

[]

 

“Hey Homura-chan! I got the-” A massive earthquake shook Homura’s domain, threatening to tear it in half. The pill cup and the cup of water that the pinkette held were forcibly dropped to the cracking ground. “W-what’s going on?! Homura-chan!” 

 

She tried to steady herself as she moved toward the ballet dancing area, but the ceiling started to creak, and the pillars supporting it were crushed under their own weight. 

 

The ceiling crashed, and the full force of gravity came crashing down on Madoka. She closed her eyes shut, afraid of what’ll happen to her. 

 

Until only silence covered Madoka, and a pair of black wings hovered over her. She slowly opened her eyes as she felt two arms squeeze at her embrace. The gentleness was familiar and warm. 

 

It was Homura Akemi. She was donned in a beautiful black dress that revealed her shoulders and arms, with a broken heart-shape symbol that stretched from her chest down into a skirt-esque raven design. Homura’s eyes were now a bright violet rather than a dull amethyst purple from before. 

 

“H-Homura-chan….?” In the back of her head, a painful surge of memories was about to burst out of some kind of mental wall but before she mustered any strength to dig into that pile of lost memories, Homura silently placed her finger on Madoka’s head. 

 

The world lost all color. 

 

Madoka froze in place. Not even a single breath escaped her lungs. 

 

“I’m sorry, Madoka.”

 

From behind her, another raven-haired magical girl materialized from thin air, holding onto her signature black rose bow. There was a solemn expression placed fastly on her lips. “Is it time?” She asked. 

 

“It is,” the winged eldritch deity confirmed, “Go, Love. I’ll materialize your fallen sisters soon after.”

 

“Yes,  _ Good-for-Nothing mother _ ,” an uncharacteristically wide smile spread across the fake Homura’s face, one far too large for her thinly-sculpted face. It showed what she truly was - a fiend. 

 

The Demon’s feathers surrounded Madoka and embraced her tightly in a loving expression, and disappeared into a cloud of shadows. 

 

Love moved a step forward toward the front door when the ground beneath her soles shook uncontrollably. 12 dolls extracted themselves like puppets out from the shadows, their movements choppy and chaotic. 

 

They all had wide smiles far too large for their frames. 

 

The front entrance door blasted open as gun powder smoke filled the room, and five silhouettes moved through the gray dust cloud. Right in the center stood a majestic Tomoe Mami, with her arms crossed and a powerful solar-like glow around her body. 

 

Her eyebrows twisted into anger. Her lips shriveled into a slight frown. Her eyes were fueled by an enraged sun. 

 

_ “ _ **_I knew it.”_ ** Mami’s voice was ferocious and unforgiving. 

 

“It’s over, Homura!” Kyouko materialized her spear toward the fake Homura, who simply shrugged as she shook her head cynically. 

 

“Are you still  _ intending  _ to get in my way?” The innards of her home suddenly flashed away. The Holy Quintet and the Family of Dolls found themselves on top of a skyscraper. 

 

Love twirled her hair through her right hand pridefully with a smirk on her face. 

 

“That’s not Homura,” Sayaka finally understood. She didn’t feel any of the oppressing fear that The Demon had emanated. “That thing is probably one of her familiars.” Her blue eyes looked over to Yuma, who held steadfast to her weapon.  _ Dammit, she was dragged here with us too.  _

 

Sayaka kept a low gaze on the younger green-haired magical girl who was unaware of the stare. 

 

There was a audible long sigh from Love. The doll felt a strange sense of frustration as she looked up at the half-moon in the beautiful night sky filled with stars. Her hand reached out to it, but retracted out of hesitation. 

 

She had no right to touch - defile such a beautiful thing. 

 

“I believe you would be able to understand my ultimatum, Kyouko Sakura,” The Doll pointed at the redhead who simply gawked in shock. 

 

“What the hell are you talking about?” Kyouko raised her spear against the raven-haired doll. “I’m not going to join up with the likes of someone as creepy as you.”

 

“Heh,” Love scoffed, “I suppose we wouldn’t be able to talk here, not with this crowd.” Looking over to the Holy Quintet, the Doll couldn’t help but notice something important. 

 

“Where’s StupidLooking?” 

 

On cue, a naive-looking doll materialized from shadows and raised her spear against the Leader Doll. 

 

Her assassination attempt was short-lived, however, as all twelve other dolls pounced on her, pushing her head down on the shivering-cold floor. 

 

With that distraction, the blonde magical girl savagely fired her Tiro Finale. 

 

A wide-eyed face covered The Doll’s normally prideful expression as a massive fireball the size of a comet hurled right toward her. “H-how-”

 

Without hesitation, the twelve Clara Dolls behind Love blocked the attack using themselves as a shield. 

 

The fiery energy trickled through their porcelain limbs as cracks slowly took hold of their bodies. Their laughs became distorted as the holy solar energy ruptured through their systems. 

 

It was like seeing a nightmare unfold for Love. 

 

Her precious sisters were being destroyed right in front of her…

 

“ _ S-survive...destroy these dummies and...stUFf Em in BOxeS.” _

 

_ “MaKE ThEM LiCK youR BOOTS!!!” _

 

_ “IF THey WIn We CAn’T kill RAts ANymoRE!!!” _

 

“You….how dare you?” Love, who wore Homura’s face, felt an indescribable feeling. If she had one word to describe it, it would be: WRATH.

 

She felt her mind and heart giving away to pure unadulterated WRATH. 

 

“I won’t show a shred of mercy to you, Mami Tomoe,” The raven-haired facade of a magical girl warned her upperclassman as her eyes glared daggers at her. 

 

“ _ -thing _ .”

 

Love raised her eyebrow. She didn’t quite catch what Tomoe muttered. 

 

“I have NOTHING to say to a fake!” The floor cracked from the sheer heat the blonde magical girl emanated. The cracks beneath them started to widen from the lava that materialized from below it. 

 

A once dark night sky filled with a near-infinite amount of stars started to brighten violently from the volcano-esque skyscraper. 

 

Love raised her tainted bow and formed a purplish arrow purely from magic, and aimed at her enemy. 

 

A radiant blast of amethyst energy rained down on the solar magical girl. Just as Kyouko, Sayaka, Nagisa, and Yuma were about to interfere, Mami unleashed a powerful surge of burning-hot plasma that completely disintegrated the magical doll’s arrows. 

 

Without a shred of mercy, the doll’s body was shrouded in flames.“You continue to hurt others while keeping all kinds of secrets to yourself, don’t you?” Mami Tomoe opened her eyes. 

 

A savagely fierce glare pierced its gaze to the burning doll. Its guise slowly torn off from the heat. 

 

Its empty sockets focused on its enemy. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter End
> 
> Sorry for the wait. Finals week really kicked my ass. Seriously…
> 
> Anyways, I hit a bit of writer’s block, so whenever that happens I feel like everything gets rushed for some reason or another. Quality might have gone down too….
> 
> But nevertheless, hope you enjoy it!


	21. Chapter 19: Disguise

The holy fire burned through Love, tore through her muscle tissue, and burned a hole into her nervous system. Her human features that set her apart from her Clara sisters were falling apart, now mutating into a demonic state. Love’s hands became twisted and disjointed, and her nails grew into claws. Love’s once beautiful amethyst eyes became empty sockets. They were so dark and deep it was as though they held an unfathomable abyss within them. Her voice was now warped and contorted, without a trace of humanity. 

 

Everyone in the Holy Quintet felt a deep fear as they saw this creature unfold before them. To call her a simple familiar was far from the truth. This  _ thing  _ had a mind of its own, with its own agenda. 

 

From beyond the deep darkness was the silhouette of a raven-haired girl with glowing reddish-violet eyes, with a rough expression. “That idiot,” She muttered as she looked down at another raven-haired girl, whose clothes were clearly disheveled and her skin had several claw marks carved into them. “Well, at least I have another.”

 

Back at the skyscraper, the torrent of flames kept burning through the mutated Clara Doll. Her expression was clear of any clarity, with only anger and rage in her heart...or what’s left of it. 

 

“I’ll handle this familiar, everyone, find a way out of this labyrinth,” Mami commanded with an intense war tone. 

 

“Got it, Mami. Go kick her ass,” Kyouko gave a thumbs up, while she lead the rest of the group down the skyscraper, away from the mutated doll’s sight. 

 

Without a moment’s hesitation, Mami summoned a parade of muskets and fired them all at once. Love fired her bow in a counterattack, with several bolts of amethyst lightning materializing to halt the flaming Tiro Finales. 

 

“wE woUlD hAVe gIVen yOu aN EnJOYabLE lIFe, aNd yET YoU refUSe EVen tHAt fROm Us…” Love’s distorted tone had the slightest hint of melancholy, but it was shrouded in rage. Malefic wings sprouted from out of her back. Their contents were of pure darkness and shadow, threatening to drain even the bright undying star known as Mami Tomoe. 

 

The shadows beneath Love extended and mutated into several false Clara Dolls, all mocking the magical girl. 

 

“LET’s gET stARted,  **_ToMOe-SENPaI_ ** .”

 

[]

 

The night sky was clouded by a large dark fog too thick to be considered clouds. A strange and rampant amethyst energy circulated through it like lightning. It had a mind of its own and followed the four magical girls, chasing them throughout the Mitakihara City Labyrinth.

 

“Shit, what is that thing?!” The redhead yelled, trying to repel it back with shockwaves from her spear. Her attempts were in vain though, as the shadows drew ever so closer. 

 

“Just keep running, Kyouko! We got no other choice!” Sayaka yelled. 

 

“AAAAHHHH!!!” A familiar voice screeched their ears. Yuma’s small hand tried to claw its way out of the dark fog that spread across her body, engulfing and drowning her in a vortex of shade. “S-save meee!!!!!!!!”

 

“Y-Yuma!” Nagisa cried out as she equipped her horn. With full strength, she poured her voice into the trumpet-like weapon, firing out several bubble-shaped projectiles that collided against the darkness. 

 

It flinched back, and in that moment, Kyouko latched onto Yuma’s hands, trying to pull her out with all her strength. “The hell are you two just standin’ for?! HELP ME!!!” The redhead cried out. 

 

Sayaka wrapped her arms around Yuma’s left arm, while Nagisa grabbed onto Yuma’s right arm, with all three trying to pull the green-haired victim with all of their strength. 

 

“Shiiit, c’mon Yuma! I ain’t losin’ you!!! AAaaaghhh!” 

 

Everyone pulled with all their strength against the shade of darkness. However, the shade didn’t give a single inch, as it pulled both Yuma and Kyouko into its abyss.

 

“Pull back! Nagisa! Pull back!!!” Sayaka dragged Nagisa away from the darkness that swallowed Kyouko and Yuma alike. The white-haired magical girl struggled against the blue knight, but Sayaka wouldn’t have it. “We have to keep moving!! If we want to make this world whole again, we have to keep moving!!! So snap out of it!!” 

 

“No! Our friends are still in the-” 

 

“LET’S GO!” 

 

The white-haired girl flinched as she looked back and forth toward Sayaka and the dark fog. Sayaka gasped for breath as she yelled at Nagisa, trying to pull her back to her senses. “If we want to save everyone from Homura’s prison, we have to go! We’ll save them! I swear it! But please, Nagisa! Trust me!!!”

 

“I GET IT!” Nagisa yelled back, “I get it!!!”

 

Hearing Nagisa’s confirmation, a tired smile crafted itself on Sayaka’s lips, “Then let’s go kick some ass.”

 

[]

 

The turbulent winds spun Kyouko farther and farther into vertigo, her hair tangled against the tainted hurricane. “Y-Yuma!!!!” She cried out, as she tried to reach out to grab her adopted sister’s hand, but the bipolar winds wouldn’t allow it. 

 

Without an inkling of mercy, the abyss tore them apart from each other. “Kyouko-neechan!!!!!!”

 

“Yuma!!!!!”

 

Then, complete silence. 

 

An eerie quietness screamed in Kyouko’s eardrums. It was deafening compared to the once-violent vortex. This silence was near-drowning. It deprived her of all senses. Everywhere she looked was shrouded in pure darkness. Kyouko didn’t even know whether she was up, down, or sideways. 

 

The black scenery warped and changed before her. Down at her boots, the shadowed ground started to grow and lengthen into lavender roses. A throne made out of pure pink roses formed, and a dark silhouette sat elegantly on top of it. With her legs crossed, she called out to Kyouko Sakura. 

 

“Hello, Kyouko Sakura.”

 

The redhead couldn’t help but be amazed and stared in wonder. Whether it was out of fear or curiosity only Kyouko would know. “Take a seat,” The shadow commanded. With a flick of a finger, another chair formed out of crimson roses formed right behind the tomboy redhead. 

 

Cautiously, she sat - spear in hand. “Where’s Yuma?” She asked first, and foremost. 

 

“She’s fine. I teleported her to my home. Asleep, of course.”

 

_ “My home”  _ struck as odd to Kyouko, but she decided to overlook it, “What am I doing here?”

 

“Interesting question. Why  _ are  _ you here?” The Demon questioned as she swished the lavender drink in her elegant stem glass. She uncrossed her legs. The sheer act of it left Kyouko gasping for breath. 

 

A revelation caught Kyouko by the nose. She hadn’t  _ blinked _ . Her eyes felt dry, as though something had placed a heater near her eyes for a whole hour. That wasn’t all though. The redhead hadn’t even  _ breathed  _ ever since she laid eyes on The Demon. 

 

“Ah, looks like I unconsciously used my ability. I apologize,” The eldritch deity didn’t sound apologetic at all. 

 

As she flicked her fingers, a wave of air hit the redhead, with her breathing and blinking habits returning to normal. Kyouko gasped, as though she had been drowning earlier. “People who are compatible to my essence focus too much on me, to the point where they forget to breath. Though there are a few exceptions, like the other me who already knew how to deal with that.”

 

“It just…” Kyouko held a hand to her chest. She felt her heart beat faster and faster, “...proves you’re insane…”

 

“Insane? True. But who’s crazier? The one who takes things at face value, or to someone who achieves what she desires?” She stood up, her stocking-covered legs brushing against the dark energies of the abyss. Every movement was elegant and well-calculated. It made Kyouko’s face turn beet red as she gulped. 

 

The eldritch demon drew closer to Kyouko, up until she was able to whisper into the magical girl’s right ear. No matter how much Kyouko tried to put strength into her muscles, no matter how much she commanded her body to move, it stood still in a trance, knelt toward the Temptress of Desires. 

 

In a lustful whisper, The Demon spoke, “You don’t even know what you’re fighting for. The only reason you are fighting me is because you’re angry that I trapped Sayaka, but that was only because she wanted to tear everything I worked for apart.”

 

Kyouko shut her eyes, not listening to her. 

 

Sighing, The Demon continued, “What do you think about your life before you entered this war against me? Was it torture? Was it Hell?”

 

A shocking revelation hit Kyouko Sakura. 

 

Her sad whispers rang in Kyouko’s ears so loudly. She felt like a fool the moment The Demon - no, Homura, whispered this.

 

“Were you truly….not happy?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I could’ve made it longer, but I wanted to end it at a certain spot. So far this was my shortest chapter and longest waiting time. I apologize for that. Procrastination struck me hard. 
> 
> But hey, I wrote another chapter for Pilgrimage as a Christmas present for you guys. 
> 
> Anyways, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.


	22. Chapter 20: Vae Victus

Vae Victus

“...what?” Kyouko Sakura looked up at The Demon, a startled expression clouding her once-vigorous personality. Her casted gaze on the eldritch queen softened and lost its bloodthirsty focus. 

With a ferocious tone, the raven-haired demon replied, “You heard me, Kyouko Sakura.” Her reddish violet irises glared into Kyouko’s soul, looking upon the most hidden parts of her delicate spirit. 

“What do you care? I never saw you give a damn about us-” Homura shook her head in disapproval. She clicked her tongue multiple times, like she was dealing with a child. Kyouko couldn’t help but think she missed something - no, overlooked something. 

Spreading her wings, Homura stretched her limbs out in a bored and melancholic expression, clearly annoyed that she had to spell things out to her human friend. “In the Law of Cycle’s universe, Sayaka is dead.”

Disbelief struck Kyouko, but she needed to strike fast. “Hah, you’re lying. You are a demon, so it’s obvious that-”

“Oh please, stop deluding yourself, Kyouko. That’s a rookie mistake and you know it,” She flung aside all hope, and replaced it with a unique flavor of despair. It hit hard, straight into Kyouko’s heart. 

Retracting her wings and reforming her school uniform out of shadows, Homura spoke slightly sheepishly, “...I was one of you. A long time ago. Why is it so hard to believe that I want the best for all of you?”

“I-”

“Sayaka Miki continues to play make-believe. She is addicted to playing the ‘blue knight’. It’s a disease to her, a way to play hero while serving her selfish desires,” She clapped, hinting at a realization, “Of course, I am the same way, but at least I make it worthwhile for all of you. If she was given what she wanted, she wouldn’t even be alive, driven to despair and forced to disappear all for a boy. Sayaka loves to make everyone feel sympathy over her tragic end as she drags everyone down in through the mud.” I’m quite the hypocrite, aren’t I? Homura realized her own paradox. 

“Don’t you dare talk smack about Sayaka, you demon!” The redhead raised her spear toward Homura’s heart, but her opponent stood still, unfazed and undeterred over her apparent death threat. 

“She doesn’t even know why she’s fighting for the Law of Cycles.”

“What the hell do you want from me, huh?” Kyouko materialized several flames over her spear, ready to launch her strongest attack yet. “You’ve been talking in circles like some kind of fat politician. I hate those.”

Sighing, the raven-haired monster shrugged, and got straight to the point, “I want you on my side.”

“On your side? You gotta be screwin’ with me.” She bit off a part of a pocky she had been saving from one of her crimson-colored pockets. 

“I can bring your family back.”

“........”

Time stopped. Kyouko couldn’t breathe, and could barely register what Homura just declared. She felt like she was having a heart attack, and clenched her chest - at her soul gem, looking for confirmation that she wasn’t dreaming. “I-if you could’ve...all this time...why didn’t you?” She wanted a clear answer more than anything.

“Because, wouldn’t that seem too good to be true? That you suddenly woke up alongside your sister, mother, and father? Which is why I saved it for this occasion. Your betrayal for the return of your family should be suffice payment enough.”

“So basically...you didn’t do it so you could have a card up your sleeve...you sick witch.”

“Demon,” Homura corrected, “I’m a Demon.” She held her arms, reaching toward Kyouko, offering her a cold embrace. “So what will it be, Kyouko Sakura? Will you continue fighting for something as vague as the Law of Cycles, or will you fight for the revival of your family?”

“Damn you…,” A tear formed from the corner of her crimson eye, and continued with a slight crack in her voice, “I swear, I get the vaguest feeling you used to be different somehow.”

Kyouko looked downward at her feet, looking for an answer in the bottomless darkness she stood upon, and clicked her tongue and furrowed her eyebrows. “Tsk, you have a deal. But don’t you dare kill Sayaka.”

“Of course not, that would be detrimental to my plans.” Homura’s form enslaved itself into a form of a dark amethyst shade, and overshadowed Kyouko, near-crushing her in a perverse clinch. “Glad to have you on board, Kyouko Sakura.”

[]  
“i’M AMAzed TOMoE,” The doll’s voice screeched Mami’s ears, “tO thiNK YOu’D GEt ThiS POWerFUL.” She pointed at the fact that Mami Tomoe had surrounded the doll with several dozen tangled webs made from her own yellow ribbons. To the doll, it was like looking at a newborn deity, one who focused her energy on the doll’s inferior existence, one that is neither human or demon, but a simple familiar. 

The web surrounded Love, crackling with energy as it drew nearer and nearer to imprisoning her. “ArE YoU HeSITAtiNG?” The doll smiled as it waved its charcoal-burnt hair back.

The moment she said it, the webs entrapped her, imprisoning her as it sealed away her movements. “I won’t let an existence such as yours walk this world freely any longer,” Mami’s voice was intense, as the webs grew tighter and tighter, threatening to squeeze out what little life the doll had. 

Its intense pressure and the solar flames it emitted bound the doll, burning and crushing her at the same time. Mami forced the ribbons tighter, but realized there was still a force of resistance. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t close her ribbons completely, and in a flash, the doll’s body enshrouded itself in shadows, cutting apart the loose ribbons that had bound her.

A dozen shadow dolls spawned from within Love, and charged at Tomoe with spears in hand. Their legs were replaced by shadow tendrils. Instinctively and out of fear, the blonde veteran pulled out smaller-sized muskets, and fired at the incoming familiars. 

They blocked by use of their newly-shaped tails, and continued to race at her without losing any amount of speed. 

“wE’lL bE taKINg tHAt poWEr.” She tore out her bow formed out of negative energy, and fired in rapid successions as her malefic wings took shape, flying her off of the massive azure-colored skyscraper. 

Mami, in turn, summoned a torrent of ribbons, swinging from one skyscraper to the next, dodging the barrage of shadow dolls and energy bolts aimed straight at her. With great flexibility and inhuman reflexes, she fires her muskets in a counterattack straight at the mutated Love. 

The shadow dolls swoop in and take the blow, acting as shields for Love. “Do better next time!” 

“Hah, what a fool! Moron! Moron!” The shadow dolls cried out in an undecipherable language, taunting and cursing the blonde veteran as they raised their dark spears to pierce through her flesh. 

She parried each blow with her muskets, swiping away any spear that drew too close. “Tiro FINALE!” Mami cried out, as she blasted a whole through a doll. 

It looked down at its chest, where a gaping hole formed. There was a slight smile across its blackened face as its body of shadows regenerated itself and continued its onslaught. 

So a simple attack won’t work, Mami wondered at their regeneration, and thought, What if I completely destroy them?

Without warning, her muskets tripled in size, their chambers glowed with a hot solar orange, and the veteran raised her right arm and pointed at the sky, “TIRO FINALEEEE!!!!”

The strength gave birth to five miniature suns, burning away the darkness of the labyrinth and tearing through the shadow dolls like scissors through paper. 

Each shadow doll was engulfed by the orbs of light, unable to survive the holy energy Mami Tomoe ejected. 

The orbs fused and homed in on the final doll of Love. Frowning in frustration, the doll folded her dark wings in front of her to shield herself from the fiery solar sphere of energy. 

“gAH!!!!” She screamed, her distorted voice crackling against the wild fiery blast, with her wings quickly dissipating. 

Her black wings were consumed by the bright sun, and in a panicked attempt she stretched out her arms to push back the blast. Her demonic hands burned through the touch. Love cried out, “I Won’T LOSe!!! NOt tO yOU!!!”

Putting her strength into her magic, the doll spawned a dozen more shadow dolls, and used them to push back the sun-like orb. They struck at it, pinning their shadow spears against it to cover it in shadows, but the orb refused to dim and burned away the spears.   
Bit by bit, the shadows dissipated, absorbed by the bright star. 

“gaAAHAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!” Love refused with all her might, pushed and kicked and headbutted against the massive TIRO FINALE, but it was all in vain. Nearly eighty-percent of her body was consumed by flames  
“Goodbye, familiar,” were the last words the doll heard.  
[]

Hundreds of raven-colored feathers fell through the thick miasma air, tainting the broken concrete with their presence. The amethyst-eyed demon looked beyond the dark horizon, brightly lit by Mami Tomoe’s rampage. 

She laughed. 

Her black hands caressed a shivering blob of white fur whose ears twitched up in instinctive fear. “H-Homura Akemi,” the creature spoke. 

“What is it, incubator?” Her poisonous smile set itself in place as her eyes hovered over the disgusting rat-like racoon. 

“Why did you give them a chance at overturning your rule? You could have accomplished your eternal control behind the shadows, inside their minds. Why out in the open? It is completely illogical, even for you.”

“It’s ironic, how you call my actions illogical, when I have to thank you for my evolution,” A smirk crossed her lips, “You created me – something you can’t understand – as part of your ‘experiment’ to watch over and attempt control over the Law of Cycles, who in turn, held Madoka. I wonder if you feel frustration – in your current state that is.”

It shivered without responding, its beet red eyes afraid of what those amethyst orbs had in store for it. 

The Demon looked back at the scenery and felt a sudden twinge at her heart. Something was plucked away from her, something important.

Casting her gaze across the battle-torn skyscrapers she saw her final doll consumed by flames and destroyed without a trace. Surprise usurped her calm expression.   
But something else caught her by the tail. As she looked back at Madoka’s room, she fully realized its emptiness. “What?!” She couldn’t help but cry out, “But how?”

"Could it have been my human self?" She thought, as she warped inside the cage that held her human counterpart. 

Empty. 

“Incubator…” She warped Kyubey by her side, “The one person who can potentially go behind my back and do this…is you. Were you the one who freed them?”

An eerie silence passed the wind before the white alien spoke in confirmation, “Yes. I did. I gave aid to Sayaka Miki and Nagisa Momoe in freeing them both.”

A surge of volcanic anger rose from the depths of her belly until she could no longer contain it. “DAAAAMIIIIIIIIT.” Regaining her wits quickly, she used a mental voice to reach Kyouko, “Kyouko! Track down Sayaka Miki and Nagisa Momoe! They have Madoka. Bring her back to me!” 

“I’m just wondering, but why don’t you just do it yourself?! You got all the power.” Kyouko asked. 

“It’s too dangerous right now. Just do it. Yuma will be on your side, so you won’t be fighting alone.”

“W-wait, what do you-“

The red-eyed Homura forcibly ended the mental transmission and hovered her gloved right hand over the spineless Kyubey. She comforted it, pet it softly right down to its belly, and then, without warning, crushed its skull. 

Its gelatin-like blood splattered across her shadow realm, tainting its beautiful black, but she didn’t care. 

She was infuriated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year! Here’s part 1 of my presents for you guys. My next story which hopefully be posted by today (or tomorrow) will be another Pilgrimage chapter. 
> 
> Happy New Year!!!
> 
> PS: First time I used Word in a while. The move from there to here wasn't very good. I wonder if there's a import doc option or something...


	23. Chapter 21: Sayaka, The Hero

“ _ Sayaka! Nagisa! Yuma!”  _ A childish voice rang through their skulls, one crying out in a near-emotional shout. The trio halted in their tracks, standing in the middle of a vortex of shadow. Just being near it drained the magical girls of their magic reserves, rapidly tainting their soul gems at an alarming rate. 

 

“Was that...Kyubey?!” Sayaka swung her sword, trying to cut through the hostile shades that scurried around them. 

 

“I heard it that a way!” Nagisa yelled, she pointed behind them, revealing a small glimmer of light in the tunnel of darkness. Two crimson orbs shook through that glimmer of hope. 

 

“Yuma sees Kyubey! Let’s go everyone!!”

 

The trio scurried towards the incubator, cutting through waves and waves of shadow familiars that were clearly hell bent on killing everyone. Sayaka summoned half a dozen spears, using telekinesis to cut through the warped reality, with Nagisa firing her trumpet to keep off the monsters behind them.

 

Yuma raised her staff, plummeting the smaller familiars that would surround them. 

 

They finally reached the unlikely ally who turned its tail suspiciously. “Follow me!” It said. 

 

Sayaka clearly noticed visible patches of skin on the incubator, and before Yuma and Nagisa followed it, the knight raised her sword and stopped them in their tracks. “Wait,” She ordered, “Look at you, incubator. Let me guess, you’re working for The Demon.”

 

The two girls gasped, with Nagisa yelling out, “Is that true?!”

 

“If I was, I would just let you three be absorbed by the very shade you are standing on,” It said as-a-matter-of-factly, “We don’t have much time, so come with me!”

 

As it scurried into the light behind it, the trio looked at each other with clear doubt in their eyes, but followed the white rat reluctantly.

 

The scenery changed like some sort of lizard shedding its skin. Its once pure dark setting now warped and distorted into a huge home - more specifically, Homura’s home. They were back where they started. 

 

“No, we aren’t,” Sayaka shook her head, “This place is made from Homura’s labyrinth powers, unlike the other one that was simply goused in it.”

 

Nagisa heaved a heavy sigh, her magic clearly drained from the rest of the others, gasping for breath as though her stamina was zapped right out of her, “This is certainly a very dangerous place! Before I die, I want to eat the biggest cheese in the world!”

 

“That’s your death wish?!” Sayaka countered, before placing a hand on her forehead as she heaved an annoyed sigh, “Whatever, c’mon guys, let’s get this over with.”

 

The incubator led the way into the abysmal building, and its feet scurried through the eternally long corridors that would have lead to countless different places. With its guidance, Sayaka and the gang found themselves in a prison room. It was so dimly lit, and only a small speck of light hit a prisoner shackled by chains. Her dark-grey uniform clothes were in tatters, her long black hair shriveled and messed up, and her skin filled with fresh scars and burns. 

 

Materializing her aqua-colored soul gem, a bright blue light emanated from Sayaka’s palm. She hovered the gem over the prisoner, and gasped heavily at what she saw. 

 

It was Homura Akemi - the magical girl. 

 

“U-uughh…” The tattered prisoner raised her head to look at the blue light. She opened an eye, to which Sayaka noticed something hideous.

 

Homura’s missing eye wasn’t missing per se - it was witchified, shut by threads of red cobwebs that stretched out from her eye down to her cheek. The only remaining amethyst eye was already on the verge of turning completely blood-red. Pieces of bone had torn out of her left arm, clearly defining an incomplete and grotesque witch form. 

 

There were clear signs of torture and ill-will carved on her body, ranging from burns to cuts to the half-formed witch mutation placed on her body. Right on her abdomen was a word carved deep with a knife that read: SHE MUST NOT WAKE. 

 

The doppelganger of their enemy stood within three feet of them - locked, chained, and served on a silver platter. “W-who…” She groaned, her limbs too weak and too fragile to move. 

 

“Homura?” Sayaka choked on her breath, as she saw her most vile enemy shackled like an ill-treated dog. It was then that Sayaka realized that Homura’s demon form was starting to spiral out of control. 

 

The Demon’s mentality was spiraling downward along with her morality, so much in fact that she’d torture her human self. 

 

Back when Homura Akemi was whole, at least she had standards and didn’t torture Sayaka, at least not to this extent. 

 

At that moment, Sayaka felt an intense fear and disgust for her true enemy - The Demon was nothing more than a rogue Witch with jacked-up Deity powers who started to run amok, losing sight on her goal. 

 

“What do we do?!” Nagisa started to scratch her head in panic, while Yuma’s eyes darted everywhere nervously. 

 

“Yuma thinks we should free her!” Yuma expressed her opinion, frantically waving her arms around the chains. The raven-haired girl’s eyes gazed over the smaller of the three magical girls, and smiled meekly. 

 

“This is Homura Akemi - the magical girl version. Your true enemy is the demonized deity,” The incubator rolled its once-proud tail. “I believe it’d be in your best interest to free her. After all, she has insight in how to defeat our enemy.”

 

“You never change, do you, incubator?” A heavy sigh slipped from Sayaka’s lips as she unsheathed her sword, and slashed through the rusted chains. Homura’s limp body fell right on top of the blue knight. 

 

Sayaka barely managed to support Homura and slid her new-found ally’s arms over her shoulder and onto her back. “You and Homura better start explaining things soon…” Sayaka snarled, “At this point, keeping secrets only serves the plot, nothing else.”

 

“I assure you, we will, but there’s one last stop we need to do in order to defeat the other Homura Akemi,” It jumped on Nagisa’s shoulder as it directed its attention to the blue-haired knight.

 

“Where’s that?” Yuma interrupted, nervously jumpy from being in enemy territory.

 

“The ballet room,” It stated, “Is where Madoka Kaname is being held in.”

 

“W-wow…” Sayaka’s eagerness was summarized with that one word. Everything started to fall into place neatly. In her opinion, it was a bit too neatly. “Aren’t things going too damn smoothly? It’s like you’ve been preparing for this moment for a long time-”

 

“But I have,” Kyubey cut in, “I’ve been planning for this ever since the demonized deity took control. She is eating away at our energy reserves to simply maintain the labyrinth that expands across the universe. To maintain a labyrinth at Homura’s size, you need at least as much energy as the sun makes per year each day. All the despair energy we’ve accumulated is gone at this point since she usurped my race’s system and replaced it with her own, illogical, wasteful system. At this rate, heat death will occur much faster than anticipated. About eighty-five percent faster,” It shrugged its tail, “All of our energy-gathering techniques had gone down the drain because of her existence.”

 

“Technically it was your fault, incubator,” Sayaka bared her teeth against the alien cat-rat thing, “But I’m going to fix things. Watch me, incubator, and I hope you learn from this.”

 

Kyubey’s red orbs simply gazed at the annoyed Sayaka with no emotion. It was then that Sayaka wondered what The Demon did to make Kyubey so flustered before. She perished the thought, scared of learning what the eldritch deity might’ve done. “Let’s go, before the demonized Homura Akemi figures out I’m gone.”

 

The trio - now a group of five (including Kyubey and fallen Homura) wandered their way through the countless miniature labyrinths inside one giant maze of magic. Through Kyubey’s guidance, Sayaka and the others avoided every known obstacle in The Demon’s own threshold. 

 

They finally found themselves in front of two huge wooden doors after exploring for what seemed like an eternity. A strange symbol - similar to Homura’s lizard insignia, was painted on them. “It’s warded, so we’ll need the human Homura Akemi to enter the room. It’s defensive magic will activate if anyone else enters.”

 

“How come only her?” Yuma asked, her suspicions raised alarmingly as her eyebrows burrowed somewhat angrily, much different from her normally-meek and sheepish personality. 

 

“The human Homura Akemi and The Demon both have the same magical frequency. In essence, they both share the same magical DNA,” Kyubey jumped on the floor, off of Sayaka, “The only difference is the nature of it.”

 

“Nature?” Nagisa asked right before Sayaka, “What does that mean?”

 

“From my regained memories of the previous universe, the witch spawned from a magical girl both share the same frequency because they are both built upon the same magical essence. Of course, The Demon altered her own soul gem, to the point of destroying and reshaping it.”

 

“Wait, wouldn’t that mean they don’t share the same magical frequency-thingie or whatever?” Sayaka interrupted, finding a hole in Kyubey’s theory.

 

There was a slight silence within Kyubey, making nervous sweat drop off of Sayaka’s spine, “In theory, her magical DNA should stay the same regardless of how much she reworks her own frequency. I suppose it’s a matter of luck now.”

 

“W-wait,” Yuma cried out, “Wouldn’t that mean there’s a high chance for the trap to activate if you’re wrong?!”

 

“Yes, but…” Kyubey rolled its tail, bringing a strange sense of comfort to the girls, “Humans like to say ‘no pain, no gain,’ am I correct?”

 

“But-”

 

“He’s right, Yuma,” Sayaka slumped down Homura like baggage, “All that’s left now is to wake Homura up and put her to work.” She knelt down to the sleeping beauty, and cast aside her raven-colored bangs, “Hey, wake up.”

 

“U-ughhh….”

 

“Hey, Homura, long time no-”

 

The raven-haired girl’s once-sleepy look warped into an expression of crazed fear. “N-no! NO!” She screamed and squirmed with blood running down her cheeks rather than tears. It was a look of complete despair, traumatized from the horrors within the demonized realm. Homura cried at the top of her lungs. 

 

“C-calm down!” Sayaka tried to restrain her arms, but Homura pushed and shoved the blue-haired girl away. The raven-haired girl didn’t recognize anyone, and ran to the corner of the hallway, curling herself up into a tiny ball. Her nerves twitched in nervous agony. 

 

Pity overshadowed Sayaka’s once-strong conviction as she gazed upon the utterly broken time traveler. The girl she once knew as headstrong and dedicated was now a shivering bundle of nerves. 

 

“H-Homura?” She tiptoed to the raven-haired girl, shushing the other two girls in the process. “It’s alright, nothing’s going to happen to you, I promi-”

 

“Don’t come any closer!” The scared Homura Akemi spawned a magnum from within her shield. Her aim shook as she held it up against the blue hero. 

 

Sayaka halted for just a moment, putting her hands up to ease Homura, “I’m going to walk towards you, okay, Homura? I promise I won’t do anything to you.” Sayaka’s legs pushed themselves against the emotional barrier the raven-haired girl placed around herself. 

 

Homura’s magnum shook more violently with each step Sayaka took, her uncertainty reaching unfathomable heights. At this rate, her near-broken soul gem will corrupt. “Stop! I said stop!” 

 

_ BAM _ ! 

 

A bullet grazed Sayaka’s skull, the skin bursting with blood. “Sayaka-neechan!” Yuma screamed out as Nagisa and Yuma were about to jump in, but the blue hero held a thumbs up. 

 

“I’m okay,” She reassured quietly, “I’m okay.”

 

Suffering an anxiety attack, Homura flung her Smith&Wesson magnum away, and held her hands against her hair, slowly tearing apart each black strand on her scalp. She felt a soft pressure land on her right shoulder, and her entire body jumped in panic, until a soothing voice entered her ear. 

 

“It’s alright, Homura. It’s me, Sayaka,” A sheepish smile greeted Homura, one that held no contempt or hatred for her, but simple relief. 

 

Blood dripped down from Sayaka’s scalp, burning her left eye, but she continued to smile. “I never tried to really understand you, have I?”

 

“!” An inexplicable emotion rose up within Homura’s withered and frail heart as she looked up to her enemy. Her one human eye hovered its purplish gaze over Sayaka, who kept smiling.

 

“I always complained, always held you in contempt, always wondering if you were trying to hurt Madoka. Even back then when you wore your dorky braided hair, I always found something to pick at with you.” Pity and sadness drenched Sayaka’s smile, “If I had been a bit more understanding, would you not have turned out this way? Instead of seeing you as the villain all the time, maybe just by having someone understand you, would you have been saved?” 

 

Sayaka stood up and offered a hand to the still-curled up Homura , “I regret leaving you behind from the very bottom of my soul, so because of that,” She noticed Homura’s unsteady hand indecisively reach out to her own, and forcefully grasped it, nearly scaring the raven-haired girl, “I won’t let you go.”

 

She forced Homura up on her unsteady legs, and declared, “Homura, I  **_will_ ** save you.”

 

**Chapter End**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well then, this took forever. I caught writer’s block, and I got a bit bored in the beginning of writing the chapter, but suddenly got Writer’s Flourish right at the end of this chapter and man, I see Sayaka in a new light now in my own fanfiction. Weird.
> 
> Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day to the American Folk!


	24. Chapter 22: Armageddon I

Unsteady and uncertain. 

 

Those two emotions swelled up deep inside the broken Homura’s heart, but something else pushed her forward. It wasn’t bravery, courage, or a sense of duty that moved her away from doubt. 

 

It was simple stubbornness. 

 

“I heard you loud and clear,” A hoarse voice escaped Homura’s chaffy lips, severely dehydrated, “All I have to do is open that door and get Madoka to safety.”

 

The blue-haired knight nodded and agreed, “Yes, but there’s a chance the magic charmed on the doors will activate and kill us all.”

 

“So another Sunday,” Homura said sarcastically, as an uncharacteristic smile crept up on her half-skeletal face. “I can stand on my own,” She said, pushing Sayaka’s hand away, “Stand back. I don’t want the three of you getting swamped in the disaster in the case that I fail.”

 

“She’s nicer than Yuma thought!” Yuma proclaimed happily, until Nagisa shushed her.

 

“SHHH! We don’t know if the other Homura is around! Be quiet!” 

 

“S-sorry.”

 

The raven-haired girl’s hand hovered over the runic-painted giant wooden doors, with the other three magical girls hiding behind a wall in the nearest hallway intersection. 

 

Kyubey stayed with Homura, its tail swinging subconsciously. “I’m surprised you’re still here, Incubator.” 

 

“I want to document this war with great detail,” It said. 

 

“Oh? You’re as manipulative as ever.” She turned to the seal, and her hand hovered over it.

 

Her hand touched the circular rune straight in the middle, and the runic paintings started to glow a hot violet-purple. Its heat emanated from within, raising the indoor temperature to a high one-hundred and ten degrees, alarming the magical girls. 

 

The ground shook and the air crackled. Heat rose up, with sweat trickling down everyone’s necks. 

 

The doors glowed a bright hot orange-white, blinding everyone like a supernova. Then, without warning, the bright light dissipated into a soft steam, and the doors had disintegrated, revealing a Madoka who was as still as a statue. She was paralyzed and frozen through some kind of malevolent spell, holding her in place as time passed by. 

 

Madoka couldn’t move, and her consciousness was frozen, and only outside intervention could free her from the paralyzing spell.

 

“What...the hell?” Sayaka rubbed her eyes forcefully, trying to remove the trapped light in her pupils. “W-what happened?”

 

Slowly opening her eyes, Homura saw a very beautiful pinkette with a white ballet dress. “We did it,” She nearly yelled out, “We did it!” 

 

[]

 

“Uhh….huh?” Groggily, Madoka opened her eyes and first noticed the magical attire Sayaka, Nagisa, Yuma, and Homura were wearing. “Sayaka-chan? Why’s everyone in their magical girl outfits?” The pinkette’s eyes glossed over her surroundings in nervous confusion, unsure what to do.

 

Homura shook her hands, wiping off the remains of the spell that moved to her hands when she freed Madoka from the paralyzing curse. A small smile turned the corner of her lips.

 

“Madoka,” Sayaka walked up to her with a stern voice, “How much do you remember?”

 

“Remember?” She tilted her head in confusion, “I’m not sure what you’re talking about, but…” Madoka held her hand against her head, gritting in slight pain, “But I have a really bad headache…” Her feet tried to stand up, but she wobbled against her own weight, until Homura grabbed her hands, supporting her against her own broken body. 

 

Madoka noticed Homura’s sorry state, and a bittersweet smile crossed her face, “Homura-chan…” 

 

The raven-haired girl held her tighter than before, her shivering bony arms refused to let go of her best friend, as though traumatized by the sheer thought of letting go. 

 

Tears poured out as Homura reverted back to a sniveling mess. 

 

There were no words between them. Madoka was Homura’s only light within the maze of darkness within her own heart. However….

 

Now, a rampant part of Homura wanted to trap Madoka in a cage, filled with food and water so she’d never dare venture the outside. That selfish part of her dragged everyone into a war with herself as the antagonistic centerpiece. 

 

“I’m sorry…”

 

[]

 

“WHERE ARE THEY?!” Crackled amethyst lightning surrounded the eldritch deity, burning way the downpour of rain across the Tokyo-esque labyrinth. Her impatience quickly burned away whatever sanity she had left, manifesting as a tornado of shadows. 

 

It had been half an hour since she sent Kyouko to track down her enemies, but she had lost connection to the redhead, and had no way of knowing what was going on anymore considering Sayaka now remembered how to hide herself in her personal labyrinth.

 

The Demon’s abysmal form tore through the night air, eating at the clouds nearby and finally locking onto a single yellow surge of magical energy - Mami Tomoe. 

 

The shadow pulled itself together and skyrocketed down on the rooftop to where the blonde veteran was standing, and mended itself into a humanoid appearance with oversized raven wings. 

 

“Akemi-san,” A cold voice rang through The Demon’s ears. She looked up, and smiled. 

 

“Tomoe-san. I hope you’re having a wonderful time looking at the half-moon,” She said, raising her skirt and bowed slightly, in a polite manner, without a hint of mockery in her voice. The winged girl pointed at the torn-up moon, and smiled at Mami Tomoe, “By any chance, have you seen Sayaka Miki or Kyouko Sakura?”

 

The blonde veteran glared into The Demon’s reddish-violet eyes, whose pupils were darker than any abyss. She stayed quiet, as several dozen golden ribbons materialized out of her back, slowly but surely surround the eldritch monster. 

 

The monster in front of Mami Tomoe started a conversation as though it was completely normal - something between friends. Raising her fingers as though starting a presentation, the twisted Homura’s hands fumbled through her own conversation, “You know how Miki-san is, very rebellious. It must be due to her tomboyish personality that can sometimes outshine even Kyouko’s. Really, she can be a bit difficult to deal with.”

 

“.....”

 

“I’m sure Nagisa would come out of hiding with some well-placed cheese, but what about Yuma? Is Nagisa a friend of Yuma’s?” Homura tilted her head, pondering something as she paced herself around her own personal circle. 

 

No reply. 

 

“Either way, I’m sure they stick around for your deliciously-brewed tea and cake,” A nostalgic expression wormed its way into Homura’s rather twisted face that ruined her beauty, “I remember when I first had some of your tea and cake. I instantly fell in love with it, and at some point I tried to recreate the recipe,” She shrugged, “It was impossible.”

 

No reply.

 

“It was a disaster! I had a ton of whipped cream splatter everywhere, it was horrible! And it nearly traumatized me.”

 

No reply. 

 

“It reminded me of the first witch we fought together as a team. The labyrinth was a difficult one to fight in, especially with all the clothes hangars as the only support joists. What was her name…” A lightbulb suddenly appeared over her head, though in epiphany, “Ah! Patricia! She was practically only a skirt with legs. Really, a funny witch to fight.”

 

“...stop…”

 

“Good times, really. Without your guidance, I probably would have never gotten this far, Tomoe-san. I have to express my gratitude,” She did a slight bow, “Thank you for being my upperclassman, in both school and as a magical girl veteran.”

 

“...Just stop it, Akemi-san.” 

 

“Both you and Madoka were the first two magical girls I had ever met. Then it was Kyouko and Sayaka, Yuma, and lastly, Nagisa. I never expected to meet the magical girl version of the Sweets Witch.”

 

“Drop it, Akemi-san.”

 

“Funny how fate works. We were once good friends, but now, you stand against me, a monster out of a children’s comic book,” She twirled her hair, in deep thought, before finally re-addressing her upperclassman, “Out of respect for our past I should show you mercy,” The Demon suddenly warped right in front of the blonde veteran, and grabbed her collar. Mami felt her legs being lifted upward, with the air in her lungs escape from her diaphragm, “But that’s a mistake I won’t make twice.” 

 

Without warning, a powerful force propelled Tomoe far into the air. Her body became a hurling comet that broke through the glass windows of several skyscrapers before finally coming to a stop against a reinforced steel wall. 

 

Blood dripped from her temple. Pain paralyzed her senses as she shook to her very core. The Demon’s power far surpassed the Doll Mami had destroyed. 

 

Broken glass tore through Mami’s flesh through her arms. She winced and bit her lip against the pain. “I am thankful to you, Tomoe-san, but…” Her twisted voice slithered its way to the blonde magical girl’s ears, “I haven’t forgotten my grudge against you, either. Always interfering, always so NAIVE. It angered me, down to the very bottom of my heart. I wholeheartedly despise you, Mami Tomoe.”

 

The Demoness expressed her antipathy towards Mami Tomoe with purely honest words, and held nothing back. In a flash of amethyst-colored lightning, the eldritch creature warped next to the fallen Mami Tomoe, and grasped her drill-hair. She pulled her upward, and smashed her face into the metallic floor. Bits and pieces of metal cut through Mami’s already-bleeding gums. 

 

She felt the pain, even through the protection of her soul gem. “This is just the beginning, Mami Tomoe.”

 

“You….can go to HELL.” Mami spat a drop of blood against The Demon. It rolled off the monster’s cheek. 

 

The Demon felt bemused.

 

[]

 

Sayaka’s witch, Oktavia, set a Witch Barrier around her group. Madoka looked confused, but had a determined look as she held Homura’s shaken skeletal hand.

 

“I can sense Mami-oneechan’s magic...I think she’s fighting the other Homura!” Nagisa yelled in a panic, “What do we do?! We haven’t even been able to find Kyouko-oneechan!”

 

“Yuma’s worried too!” The green-haired girl placed her arms in a praying-like fashion, “Is there a way we can find her soon? I’m worried about Kyouko-oneechan!”

 

“Wait…” Sayaka placed a hand over her own blueish soul gem which flickered a slight dash of red, “What a coincidence, I can see Kyouko’s energy outside the barrier.”

 

“Then let her in!” Yuma flared her arms out impatiently.

 

“Okay! Okay! Hold up,” The knight reassured the younger girl, then waved at Oktavia, ordering her to lower the barrier for a moment, “Kyouko, it’s me, Sayaka. The barrier here is mine. It’s safe.”

 

Reality warped for a moment as a red-haired magical slowly walked into the parallels between two labyrinths. She had her magical attire equipped, with a golden-read spear in hand. Her expression was serious and almost threatening, which surprised Sayaka.

 

Sayaka had only seen Kyouko like that once before. 

 

The tomboyish red-haired magical girl was unnaturally quiet as she entered Oktavia’s labyrinth. She pierced her spear into the ground, and gazed over her surroundings.

 

Her eyes first landed on a dumbfounded Sayaka, a relieved Yuma, a scared Nagisa, a happy Madoka, and finally to a wounded Homura. 

 

She looked back at Sayaka. Her eyes softened just slightly as her mouth opened, “Sayaka,” Kyouko addressed her, “Do we really have to do this?”

 

“What...are you saying?” Sayaka felt her throat contract and nearly choked on an imaginary stone. 

 

“I talked to Homura, or well, the other Homura. She told me why she was doing this, all of this.”

 

“Kyouko-chan….” Madoka 

 

“K-Kyouko…” The weakened Homura pushed her two feet on the ground, and turned her back away from Madoka, “What are you planning...to do?” The raven-haired girl’s hand hovered over her tattered shield. She was ready for battle. 

 

“She told me she could revive my parents. She told me that Sayaka was also dead in Madoka’s world. She told me all kinds of things,” Tears overflowed from her crimson eyes, “I agree with her, Homura. I love this world she made. I also want my mother, my father, and Momo back. I want to be with them again. I’m sorry...I’m so sorry…” 

 

In a flash of red light, Kyouko’s spear slammed straight into Oktavia’s helmet, shattering the labyrinth into pieces. “KYOUKO!” Sayaka screamed out as she spawned two swords from her magic, and lunged at her until a powerful force slammed her in the opposite direction.

 

The culprit was Yuma, who held a white hammer-like weapon, her eyes clearly in a daze. 

 

“Madoka, run!” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long. I completely forgot about this last week. I think I also caught writer’s block again...Dammit.
> 
> Anyways, look forward for the next chapter. I might make a Pilgrimage Special for Valentine's involving Kyouko and Homura.


	25. Chapter 23: Armageddon II: Purge

_ Goddess, almighty Goddess.  _

 

_ I love you.  _

 

_ I love you so deeply.  _

 

_ All my thoughts are about you. _

 

_ Everything I do is for you. _

 

_ Can you see it? _

 

_ Can you feel it? _

 

_ My undying eternal love for you? _

 

_ Yes.  _

 

_ I know you can.  _

 

_ The night is not yet over, Madoka Kaname.  _

 

_ Let’s continue.  _

 

_ Let’s continue our dance underneath the broken moon. _

 

Fourteen eggs clad in shadowed darkness twitched against the unforgiving cold. They rocked back and forth, the shells slowly breaking through. 

 

Nails pinched through, tearing apart the thin membrane between reality and the innards of the eldritch eggs. 

 

“SCREEE!!!!!” Hideous screeches echoed through the shells, completely shattering them like glass. 

 

Fourteen humanoid dolls stood upright like puppets with newly-attached puppet strings, and held dark spears in their hands. They laughed, giggled, and scoffed

 

It was time to play. 

  
  


[]

 

“Madoka, run!” 

 

Pieces of glass that once emanated a beautiful ocean started to crack and fall apart. Darkness wormed its way through its cracks, spilling out faster and faster by the second. A foul energy threatened to consume existence itself. 

 

“ _ She’s not going anywhere _ ,” A distorted voice overpowered the tsunami of shadows. The dark torrents slowly merged into one single point which slowly took shape into that of a fallen angel. Her wings descended next to Kyouko, who appeared sullen and disgusted with herself. Yuma’s footsteps dragged her to the eldritch deity’s side, her eyes devoid of emotion and self-awareness. 

 

The Temptress of Desire waved her hand to the panicked Madoka, who returned her greeting albeit awkwardly and frightened. “Hi, Madoka.”

 

“Another...Homura-chan?”

 

“So she still doesn’t remember,” The Demon flipped her hair proudly, “Good.” 

 

Her violet-red eyes gazed through the group of magical girls, and noticed she forgot Tomoe Mami. In that instance, she forced her hand through a summoned portal, and dragged out a blonde-haired girl by the hair. 

 

Mami’s drill-haired hair had now fallen down to her shoulders, and her once-vibrant eyes were now in a deep sleep. Cuts and bruises were evident over her body. “Let’s see,” The Demon looked over her enemies, and counted Sayaka, Nagisa, and her human self. 

 

Immediately, without warning, Nagisa screamed, her eyes filled with a deep anger as she summoned her trumpet. “LET GO OF MAMI!” 

 

She fired a dozen high-speed bubbles towards The Demon, but with one swift motion, the eldritch creature blocked the explosive bubbles with a purple-hued energy shield. The Demon yawned. “Sigh...spare me.”

 

The opponent opened her jaw, and her teeth formed into spikes in a demonic fashion, and ate the rest of the projectiles. In one big gulp, they disappeared into The Demon’s pit of a stomach. 

 

She breathed in, and fired those same projectiles from her mouth. They were dyed in purple, and much faster than Nagisa’s own trumpet attack. 

 

“Ah crap! Nagisa,dodge-” Sayaka yelled too late. 

 

The energy projectiles hit Nagisa head-on, exploding and tearing apart her magical girl attire. Her uniform dissipated, and was knocked out. Sayaka grit her teeth. Her antipathy for The Demon grew exponentially with each passing second. The knight held the battered Nagisa close, and set her next to Madoka. “Take care of her, please?”

 

An angered Sayaka turned her attention back to the demonized deity. “You freak.”

 

“I don’t like to do this, y’know?” The creature shrugged.

 

She took a step forward, leaving behind a footprint meddled in miasma. 

 

She smiled a grin far too large for her delicate face. It twisted the corners of her lips, and gave her a look of pure insanity. 

 

“You...are Homura-chan, right?” The sheer miasma that emanated from The Demon made Madoka sick to her stomach. For the first time ever in her life, she felt repulsed by the creature in front of her. 

 

How could she not have noticed? Why didn’t she notice how thick the stench was?

 

“After becoming a demon, I realized why you rarely came down to Earth in human form,” The Demon spoke, her voice sent chills to Sayaka, Madoka, and the other Homura, and kept them in place, “The more I stay in my true form, the more twisted the world becomes. Even now with each step I take, more and more wraiths are created right beneath my feet.”

 

“If you had constantly come down to Earth, there was a chance you would have brought unrealized disaster to the planet. It’s understandable but but but but but but but but….” She clenched her first as The Demon talked to herself, without giving a single bit of attention to anyone. The more the eldritch creature rambled on, the more Madoka found herself lost in confusion. “I just couldn’t accept that!”

 

Homura silently summoned a beretta handgun from her nearly-broken shield, and took aim directly at The Demon’s temple. 

 

A wide grin crossed the eldritch monster’s face as Kyouko charged down her spear against Homura, but Sayaka parried the redhead’s spear with her trusted sword. The blue knight pushed her feet down into the shivering unnaturally opaque ground, and cracked it like glass. 

 

“Kyouko! Get a grip of yourself! Why the hell are you working for a monster like her?!”

 

“You don’t get it! You don’t understand!” Kyouko Sakura spat out, “None of you Law of Cycle chumps could ever understand! I lost my entire family!!! And what did the Law of Cycles do?!”

 

Sayaka wavered, and Kyouko took advantage of the opening, and wrapped her chains around her enemy, and pinned her straight to the ground. “NOTHING! She did NOTHING!” The redhead screamed to the top of her lungs. “She promised me to revive my family if I worked for her! She promised me!”

 

“What makes you think she would do that!” A trapped Sayaka screamed. 

 

“Because she brought you back!” 

 

That sudden declaration shut the blue knight’s mouth shut. She caught a glimpse of the redhead, and saw tears flowing down her cheek.

 

The time traveler Homura summoned a knife and charged at Kyouko but Yuma pummeled the raven-haired magical girl with her staff and knocked the wind out of her lungs. 

 

“Madoka! You must remember!” A very familiar rat appeared on Madoka’s shoulder, its eyes glaring deep into her pupils and into her soul. Kyubey called out to her in telepathy, “You have the power to stop this! To sto-”

 

“ _ Bang,”  _ The Demon cracked her fingers, and Kyubey’s body rapidly swelled up, and bursted into tiny pieces of meat right next to Madoka’s face. 

 

“Ahhhh….AHHH!!!” She panicked. She lost all reason. Madoka watched as Kyubey, the strange little critter, exploded. She remembered how its eyes bulged upward, its cheeks and tail puffed up painfully. 

 

But most of all - she remembered the smell. The burnt flesh permeated her nostrils that stunk of rotten eggs. It made her stomach churn in on itself, and she felt a sudden surge of vomit wormed up her throat. 

 

“I guess it’s time to put you to sleep,” The Demon raised her hand, and nearly pointed at the screaming mess of a Madoka when the eldritch deity felt something tug at her leg. A familiar gold ribbon firmly grasped itself around her, halting her movements. She looked down, and noticed a barely-conscious Mami Tomoe who glared straight into her crimson-violet pupils. 

 

Another ribbon wrapped around her right arm, pulling her back. A sudden web of ribbons strung themselves against the monster’s limbs, paralyzing her, for just a moment. 

 

Her neck twisted itself backwards, the flesh and bone in it cracked and shattered as the eldritch deity’s eyes glared directly at Mami Tomoe. The Demon’s neck had turned a complete one-eighty. The sight was something out of a horror movie. She brought her neck down even further, destroying her body’s proportions. 

 

Mami’s body flinched in fear. 

 

**“No matter how much the world changes, you and I could** **_NEVER_ ** **get along now, can we?”**

 

“Y-you monster…What the hell are you?”

 

**“I’ve been asked that so many times,”** She curled her hair with her right arm with her neck still in a twisted position,  **“Please get a little more original.”**

 

“We will defeat you..I swear it!”

 

**_“I’m inevitable.”_ ** In one swift motion, her neck stuttered back in place, with her bones cracking audibly. It made everyone cringe in discomfort. 

 

Her wings sprouted downward and pushed the air beneath her feet, but she was held firmly by Mami’s ribbons. “I won’t let you go that easily,” The blonde veteran snarled, as she concentrated her magic on her ribbons, not just enforcing it, but setting them on fire. “Tiro Finale.”

 

“What are you-” The Demon’s words were engulfed by flames. If she cried, if she screamed, no one could hear it. Her body twitched and shuddered against the heat, unable to escape Mami’s grasp. 

 

“Tiro Finale.”   
  
The flames grew.

 

“Tiro Finale.”

 

The intensity shined brighter. 

 

“Tiro Finale.”

 

The Demon’s screams penetrated through the flame’s roars. 

 

“Now! While she’s detained! Attack her with all you got!” 

 

In that instant, Sayaka tore through Kyouko’s shackles, and kicked her straight in the gut. The redhead didn’t register that she was sent flying in the air. Drops of blood splattered across her face, her senses dulled from the knight’s fierce attack.

 

In response, Homura spawned a sleep dart from her cracked shield, and stabbed it straight in Yuma’s neck, knocking her out immediately. 

 

Homura and Sayaka both looked at each other, and nodded. They charged straight to the flames that imprisoned a dark silhouette. The blue knight spawned two new swords, and stabbed the silhouette in the stomach in rapid succession, then flipped back as the time traveler pumped her shotgun, and fired three consecutive bullets straight in the chest. 

 

“S-stop! Just stop it!” A soft voice the color of pink screamed at the top of her lungs as she witnessed true cruelty. 

 

“Madoka said to  **_stop_ ** ,” The flames dispersed, and a gloved hand gripped Homura’s hair, and wrenched her upward, while another seized Sayaka’s right arm, and twisted it in a one-eighty degree angle. The bones cracked and shattered loudly. 

 

“AGH!”

 

“FUCK!!!” 

 

With overwhelming strength, the eldritch deity pummeled both of their faces into the opaque glass-like floor, nearly shattering it completely. 

 

With the heel of her boot, she scrunched the meat of Sayaka’s stomach while she continued to tear at Homura’s once-beautiful shiny-black hair. “You heard Madoka. It’s time for you two to-”

 

“You TOO!” 

 

The harshness of the pinkette’s voice caught the demon off-guard, and her eyes flung wide as she saw a very familiar pinkish-white bow in the corner of her eye. It had a blazing rosey fire.

 

Without warning, she fired. 

 

_ Beautiful….  _

 

Several dozen circular symbols all connected to one another appeared right in front of The Demon. 

 

For the first time since she’s become a demon, the eldritch deity felt a drop of cold sweat fall from her neck. 

 

_ Gulp… _

 

A burning flash of light brighter than a thousand suns burned through the monster’s skin. Pure light chipped away at her dark figure, quickly destroying the shadows that surrounded her. “ **_G-gahhh!!_ ** ”

 

It continued to chip at her, and the pain paralyzed her. Everything, all of Madoka’s fury focused in on The Demon, and not a single speck of it hurt or blinded any other girl. 

 

Fourteen shadows spawned from The Demon’s barely-visible shadow. They readied their spears, and pushed their mistress out of harm’s way. 

 

Without any orders, the Clara Dolls dutifully stood in the way of the blast. The sisters burned much faster than The Demon. 

 

Five had already disappeared. 

 

The unforgiving light kept burning.

 

Three more. 

 

Their defenses weakened against the almighty judgement of the light.

 

Only six were left. 

 

Those final six turned their puppet-heads to their good-for-nothing mistress. The only expression they could do was smile, and yet tears escaped their nonexistent tear glands. They wept as they noticed the look on their mother’s face.

 

“M-...other….” The Clara Dolls whimpered. 

 

Wide eyes covered the demonized deity’s face, one of surprise, agony, and despair. One single tear fell from her eye. 

 

A floating dark orb independent from The Demon fell on her lap. There, right in the middle of its crowned core was a very small blight - a curse. 

 

The winged creature couldn’t remember a time when her dark orb had lost even a portion of its purity - until now. That overwhelming power pushed her to a corner. Sweat from exhaustion and fear dropped from her cheek down to her collarbone. She breathed heavily, exhausted. 

 

Her daughters were gone.

 

Madoka damaged and nearly forsaken her. 

 

Her power had started to dwindle slightly. 

 

She was losing control.

 

Multiple thoughts ran through her mind.

 

How was she going to deal against a fully-powered Law of Cycles?

 

How was she going to deal with the band of magical girls that gathered together to defeat her?

 

How was she going to escape?

 

How was she going to depower the Law of Cycles?

 

_ How was she going to repair the souls of her beloved children? _

 

So many thoughts ran through her burnt skull. The stench of burnt flesh started to wear off as her body repaired itself at an astonishing rate, far quicker than Sayaka’s regeneration. 

 

She looked down at the place of attack. There was not even a single speck of them left. The Clara Dolls were thoroughly wiped away. 

 

The Demon pushed herself upward. She faintly heard a sizzling sound. For a moment, the eldritch creature wondered where it came from, until she looked down on her arms. They were still burning, sizzling from the Goddess’s attack. 

 

She slowly turned to look at Madoka. There was a small tinge of fear in those violet-red eyes.

 

“U-ugh…” A familiar pink voice collapsed in on itself. Madoka’s legs wobbled, then fell flat on the opaque ground like a puppet whose strings had been cut. Her new magical outfit that composed of a reddish-pink outfit with an oversized bow on her chest disappeared in a flash of light, reverting back to her white swan ballet outfit.

 

Madoka exhausted all of the power she could muster and fell into a deep sleep. Seeing this, The Demon couldn’t help but laugh.

 

It wasn’t a victorious laugh, but a laugh filled with anxiety, nervousness, and ultimately, relief. 

 

Her eyes gazed through the scorched battlefield. Not a single enemy was left standing. It was The Demon’s victory. 

 

She stretched out her burnt and nearly-plucked wings, and pushed her feet toward her grand prize - Madoka Kaname. 

 

“Don’t….” Her nonexistent lungs collapsed in on themselves, “...worry. I’ll make things right, Madoka. You won’t remember any of this-”

 

Something grazed her left cheek. 

 

Instead of blood, shadows leaked through her damaged skin. She turned around, and saw the culprit.

 

It was an exasperated Homura Akemi holding a Smith and Wesson M500. 

 

“What more can you do?” The Demon donned a smug smile, “Your time has run out.”

 

“That’s where you are wrong,” The time traveler dropped her magnum, and clenched at her shattered shield, “I have time. I’m filled with it.”

 

“No! If you do that, the witch-” There was no time. “SHIT-” Panic overflowed The Demon. Her wings pushed her with intense speed toward her human counterpart. She reached out to the shield.

 

She knew that movement all too well. It wasn’t Homura’s time stop power. No, Homura was turning her shield completely upside down. 

 

The time traveler was turning back  _ time  _ itself.

 

A familiar black, grey, and white road presented itself amongst the two raven-haired girls. The shield pushed itself to the end of the time-traveling road, before suddenly spiraling out of control. 

 

The black glass from the road imploded on itself. Shadows from a witch-like origin escaped and thickened the air with miasma.  A wretched roar penetrated reality itself.

 

Homura’s time-traveling road was destroyed, and within it, emerged a monster all-too familiar to both raven-haired girls. 

 

Its figure completely engulfed and consumed The Demon’s surroundings. The scream permeated through her ears. 

 

“I will K **ILL YOU** **_UUUU!!!!!!_ ** ” A vortex pushed and nearly tore apart the eldritch deity as she screamed this to the top of her lungs. 

 

She nearly cursed her fate as she saw her human half pick up the other magical girls. She cursed herself for falling into Homura’s trap. 

 

_ Was this...Her trump card?! _

 

Terror paralyzed The Demon’s heart. She clenched at her chest as her wings shook in fear. The shadow figure grew exponentially in size with each second that passed by. 

 

She couldn’t believe it.

 

She didn’t want to believe it. 

 

But it was happening right in front of her. 

 

“ _ H-how _ ….”

 

Beginning of the End. End of the beginning. It was…

 

**_Armageddon._ **

  
  
  


K

R

I

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M

H

E

L

D

 

G   
R

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T

C

H

E

N

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually forgot about Nagisa when I was 95% finished with the chapter….I suck at large character interactions involving more than four characters. Seriously…
> 
> Anyways, here we go. Sorry for the wait. I decided to go all out cause screw it. It’s almost the end of the story anyways. I want to give you guys one heck of a ride. 
> 
> Also, since Pilgrimage is more of a series designed to feel like a one-shot, I won’t write for that one too often, but I do plan to write on it for holidays. Still debating what to do for a Valentine’s special.
> 
> Since Rejection is coming to an end, what premise for Madoka Magica would you guys like to see? I’ve seen all kinds of interesting ones, from Homulilly having a normal body to Kriemheld possessing Madoka to Homura being trapped in a laboratory. 
> 
> Leave your ideas in the review section since I’m going around scratching my brain for ideas already. 
> 
> Other than that, enjoy the latest chapter!


	26. Chapter 24: Armageddon III: Confession of Love

**Armageddon Part 3**

**_A Confession of Love_ **

 

The atmosphere was poisoned with darkness with the wind carrying a heavy miasma that could corrupt the hearts of iron willed men. A chilling air froze and shattered everything that came into contact with it.

 

Those who inhaled the drenched oxygen mutated and transformed into creatures beyond human understanding, and became maddened with an intense hunger for flesh and bone. 

 

A winged figure erratically flapped her wings through the witch’s vortex. Her eyes dulled with an unfocused stare, unable to manifest her true power completely. 

 

She gazed into the witch’s true face and for a moment felt a fear so devastating she felt her soul being torn apart in two. Forcefully stabilizing her breath, The Demon looked at the fallen Madoka, and snapped the terror out of her heart.

 

Taking a deep breath, the demonized temptress screamed out an order, “Lotte Soldiers!” with a voice so commanding it could paralyze opponents, “Protect Madoka! No matter what you have to do!”

 

From The Demon’s own diminished shadows, several dozen Lotte familiars emerged and surrounded the unconscious pink ballerina. The leader of the Lotte Soldiers princess-carried her, with the subordinates clearly jealous of this act.

 

“No you don’t!” An aggravatingly familiar distorted voice charged through the witch’s shadows, and headed straight to Madoka. 

 

“ **_THAT’S ENOUGH!_ ** ” The Demon warped straight in front of the speeding figure, and noticed it was Oktavia, with Homura riding right on top of it. She attempted to grab the mermaid witch, but Oktavia locked hold against the demonized creature, resulting in a battle of strength. 

 

The Demon pushed forward in an attempt to overpower Oktavia, but felt her power zap much quicker than before. She glanced at her floating Dark Orb, and noticed it was about twenty-five percent corrupted. 

 

Kriemhild’s presence severely drained the fallen angel’s strength. She felt herself lose in a battle of power against Oktavia, as her wings slowly started to corrode and descend, losing her place in the warped sky. 

 

The time traveler quickly took this chance to summon a rifle, and aimed close range against her demonized doppelganger. “I’m going to get Madoka back.” 

 

The sound of a bullet echoed through the stenched atmosphere. Straight through the corrupted angel’s temple was a gust of wind that permeated through her skull. 

 

She was shot straight through the temple, and the bullet traveled from her head to the back of her skull like water. “G-gahh!” 

 

“Let’s go!” Homura pointed at the sleeping pinkette, but before they managed to dive straight into the Lotte Soldiers, a small gloved hand grabbed the back of Oktavia’s shoulder, and pulled them back with an overwhelming fierceness.

 

“I will not abide by your rudeness!” The eldritch deity screamed. Black matter started to swell up into existence right above the palm of her left hand. It was drenched in a dark power, easily capable of destroying both Oktavia and the human Homura with ease. “You should’ve just let it all go,” She whispered. 

 

“Goodby-” A ginormous miasma-clouded claw struck The Demon, easily overpowering her. She felt the pressure of despair quickly engulfing her spiritual body. Her current form was too full of weaknesses. Darkness could easily cloud her. 

 

Blotches of black infected her once-beautiful skin. A black ooze escaped from The Demon’s lips. She was being poisoned. 

 

Right before she was about to escape, her wings were smashed together by Gretchen’s claws. She felt her body move up, her eyes directly staring into the abyss known as Kriemhild’s face. 

 

A massive gaping eye gazed back at The Demon. The Witch, even through her madness and insanity, looked at the demonic angel with a very slight and ghostly kindness. 

 

**“** **_HOMURA-CHAN,”_ ** **** Its voice was nothing short of madness. 

 

Scrutinizing insanity.

 

**_“WE……”_ **

 

Twisted happiness.

 

**_“...MEET AGAIN.”_ **

 

Damnable salvation.

 

Her violet-red amethyst eyes shot wide open, her mouth held agape with surprise as The Witch spoke to her. A sudden pressure squeezed the angel’s bones together. The immense power nearly crushed her. 

 

**_“....NO…”_ ** It suddenly said.

 

**_“YOU’RE NOT HER….WHO ARE YOU?!”_ **

  
  


“...Wha-”

 

Without warning, without a chance to respond, The Demon’s body came crashing into the cold cement of Mitakihara City. The demonic labyrinth that had imprisoned Kriemhild Gretchen had now shattered completely. 

 

Gretchen’s form escaped, and with rapid speed she engulfed the entire world in a maze of her own. Her voice screamed for her idealized version of Homura, constantly screaming and screeching out the raven-haired girl’s name. 

 

Billions of familiars from both demonic and witch origin battled one another, shedding magical blood as the shadows of Kriemhild Gretchen and the dolls of The Demon continued to cut each other down with spears, swords, and claws. 

 

Away from the battle, and away from the chaos, was a young pink-haired girl carried and protected by an army of Lotte soldiers, who fiercely punished any stray Witch familiar that got too close. Their formation was self-sacrificial, taking any and all kinds of damage from both the Witch and her servants. 

 

Even without The Demon’s guidance, the Lotte soldiers faithfully protected Madoka Kaname. They will not fail.

 

Luiselottes were dispatched to clear the road, and used guerrilla tactics against the overpowered servants.

 

Without the Clara Dolls, the other demon familiars had to become much more active. They coordinated much more than before. 

 

In the background, The Witch started to decimate The Demon. As the demonized angel maneuvered through Kriemhild’s city-sized arms, she summoned her corroded bow, and began to aim directly at Gretchen’s face. 

 

She felt a sharp pain in her back, and started to swiggle clumsily in the air. The Demon glanced at her back, and noticed her right wing was torn right from under her. 

 

Anger.

 

Rage.

 

Despair.

 

Sadness.

 

Self-antipathy. 

 

But not one of them was hatred against the witch, for hating the witch is tantamount to hating a part of Madoka Kaname. 

 

She accepted ALL of Madoka, even the ugliest parts of the Pink Goddess. 

 

The fallen angel found herself against a pile of rubble, with dozens of boulders pinning her feet down in the ground. She looked upward, and saw the massive witch covering the sky. Skyscrapers flew into the air like torn pieces of paper being carried by a violent wind. 

 

She laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed.

 

She laughed uncontrollably. Tears of blood flowed out of her tear ducts as she smiled a grin too wide for her small, delicate features. 

 

“THIS!” She screamed

 

“THIS IS!!!!” She continued to scream to the top of her lungs.

 

“THIS IS JUST LIKE WALPURGISNACHT!” She waved her hands up, and hugged the miasma-thickened air. “THIS IS SO NOSTALGIC!” 

 

“REMEMBER, MADOKA?! THAT FAITHFUL DAY, WHEN IT ALL WENT TO PIECES!”

 

[]

 

“U-ugh….” Her heavy eyelids struggled to open. A massive muscle-ache coursed through her entire body, making it near-impossible to move. 

 

The room she was in was built in a specified labyrinth, shaped exactly like Madoka’s house. 

 

“W-what...happened…” As she fully opened her eyes, dozens if not hundreds of Lotte soldiers turned their heads to her, and, in one knee, kneeled to her, admiring her Godliness. 

 

They didn’t speak, but they communicated their wishes clearly. 

 

The demonized familiars wished no harm on Madoka Kaname, in fact, they desires the exact opposite. They wished to protect her, even if it meant their sacrifice. 

 

She stood up, and noticed their features were similar to Homura’s. Their facial structure, their red-rimmed glasses that she once saw in Homura’s apartment, and their braided hair was just like when Madoka braided Homura’s hair. 

 

“You’re...Homura-chan’s familiars, aren’t you?” The pinkette asked, hesitantly. 

 

They nodded. 

 

“Where’s everyone else?”

 

“....”

 

Shuffling through the house, a few Lotte soldiers carried three silhouettes on their backs.

 

Junko Kaname.

 

Tomohisa Kaname.

 

Tatsuya Kaname.

 

They were all safe.

 

A tear dropped from Madoka’s cheek. 

 

[]

 

“She’s insane…” Sayaka’s voice echoed through Oktavia’s helmet, as she glanced at the fallen devil who kept laughing despite receiving fatal injuries. 

 

A tinge of bitterness stabbed the time traveler’s heart as she watched her demonized twin struggling in the ground. The floating debris, the chaotic scenery - it was all too much like Walpurgisnacht. 

 

Her stomach churned. She felt sick. Her eyes glazed over the thousands of people who were crushed under the rubble mercilessly. The lucky ones died quickly, the others ran for their lives, trying to delay the inevitable. 

 

Some citizens started to mutate and turn into Gretchen’s familiars. Children would bloat, dripping hot acid from their lips as they clumsily pushed their fat chubby feet to innocent people.

 

Police officers could only delay the demonized familiars and mutated witch servants, quickly killed by Lotte soldiers and Gretchen’s mind-controlled human-esque beasts. 

 

They screamed. 

 

Some desperately clung for life, abandoning their children to the monsters.

 

Others shielded their children, but it was futile.

 

Everyone was going to die. 

 

“I’ve always hated this scene…”

 

“Did you say something, Homura?” Oktavia glanced at the perturbed Homura, who simply shook her head in silence. 

 

“Let’s go. We still need to find Madoka. Let’s do it before that witch finds us.”

 

“Quick question,” Oktavia said, with a hint of curiosity in her voice, “Did you know the witch was in your shield?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“How?”

 

“She told me,” The raven-haired girl pointed at The Demon, “She was trying to force me to destroy it. I couldn’t, though. We would’ve lost without The Witch.” 

 

“Yeah, but we have two massive problems now. How are we going to clean this mess up?” Oktavia’s urgent voice made Homura uncomfortable.

 

“Let’s hope they kill each other, and if one survives, we’ll destroy them. They are bound to be weak by that time.”

 

“Cruel and calculating as always, aren’t you, Homura?” 

 

Homura turned away, hiding her face from the mermaid witch. A pang hit her chest. Uncertainty clouded her eyes. “Maybe.”

 

[]

 

“It really is a shame, Madoka’s Witch,” The fallen angel’s voice had an underbelly of sadness to it, but was also tinged with hidden empathy, “But I can’t stick around. If I do, I’ll be pulverized and destroyed by you. Even as a demon, my powers are inferior to yours, ultimate witch. It’s only natural considering you are the greatest. The best, and truly special, even as an abomination. I love you.” She declared her love for the gigantic monster above her, who towered over her in both strength, power, and madness. “I love you, and love just  **_caaaaaan’t_ ** stop. You are so beautiful, but alas, it really is a shame,” Her tone started to deviate from Homura’s original way of talking, as The Demon started to form into her own personality, her own person, her own self. “I can’t stick around. I have a human Madoka to protect.” 

 

With one last wide grin, the eldritch deity laughed. Before Kriemhild managed to pulverize The Demon with her skyscraper-sized claws, the angel warped away in a torrent of black feathers, completely disappearing from sight. 

 

**_“WHERE IS THE REAL...HOMURA-CHAAAAAAAAAAN?! TEEELL MEEEE!”_ **

 

[]

 

A familiar blue-haired knight carried an unconscious Kyouko on her back, with a semi-healed Mami carrying both Yuma and Nagisa with her ribbons. Sweat dropped from their necks from the lack of water and the lack of magic. 

 

Their soul gems were darkening at a frightening rate. It was truly the start of an Armageddon. “How are we going to survive this, Miki-san?” A panicked Mami created a warden out of ribbons, acting as a shield from the corrupted air and from any stray monsters. 

 

“It’s all going to be with luck. As long as Homura and my Oktavia can find Madoka, we’ll be sure to win. And at this rate, The Witch and The Demon will end up killing each other.”

 

“What a morbid plan….”

 

“I know, but I’m sure Homura already thought of that before releasing Kriemhild Gretchen.”

 

“That’s the name of the witch?” The blonde veteran couldn’t help but ask.

 

“Yeah...once Madoka remembers, she’s going to be really sad….”

 

They took one last look at the shadow-infested sky. Sayaka tore a hole through space, and started to create her own labyrinth. Mami was surprised, as she blinked a dozen times. “H-how did you do that?”

 

“A couple of tricks I learned from the Law of Cycles. Really useful stuff. This’ll be our safe haven for now. Dunno how long it’ll last though…” She shook her head, pushing out the negative thoughts in her mind, “Com’on, get inside.”

 

“Right, Miki-san.”

 

[]

 

“I must escape from here, lest Homura Akemi’s familiars find me,” Everyone’s cute and loveable white rat scurried its tiny paws through the cracked cement beneath its androgynous body. “I finally managed to collect enough data to destroy the irregularity and finally capture the Law of Cycles-”

 

“Where do you think you’re  _ going _ , Incubator?” A seductive voice echoed through the ruptured Mitakihara streets. “Are you just going to up and leave us now?” A gloved hand covered Kyubey’s entire body, and crushed it underneath its grasp. Without a hint of mercy, the hand pulled the incubator to the source of the voice - the demonized Homura Akemi. 

 

“....homura akemi…” It said in a low voice. The genderless creature looked over a bruised and battered demon, but she maintained her posture, not allowing a single weakness to be shown. Even with a missing wing, the angel had complete control over the alien.

 

“Don’t think I don’t know what you’re planning, rat. I know very well that you still desire to trap Madoka, but with that you’ll have to go through me, and whatever weapon you throw at me, it won’t work. I’m ready for you, Incubator.”

 

She pulverized Kyubey. Drops of blood splattered everywhere, tainting The Demon’s raven-dress attire. Immediately, she grasped the next Kyubey that spawned, and with haste, she warped back into a gust of raven feathers, disappearing. 

 

The wind carried her final words. 

 

_ “You have yourself to blame, incubator. You created me, and now, take responsibility for your actions.” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are getting really heated up now. Wow. It’s complete chaos. 
> 
> That’s all I gotta say for now.


	27. Chapter 25: Armageddon IV: Prey

**Armageddon Part 4**

**_Prey_ **

 

The Lotte soldiers quivered in fear as a mysterious presence shook the very ground with the tip of their heels. Footsteps echoed through the labyrinth house, with familiars setting themselves aside with great respect to this dark figure. 

 

Somehow, Madoka knew who it was. 

 

“Homura….chan…” She whispered, as she carried a sleeping Tatsuya in her arms. The wings were prominent and no longer hidden from the pinkette. The angel’s solemn expression brightened when she found Madoka. 

 

Her smile grew wider when she had Madoka’s attention. 

 

“Hello, Madoka,” She said, her voice tainted with sexual seductiveness, “How do you like my personalized creation? Beautiful, is it not? Just like home for you.”

 

By a flip of her fingers, a dancing purple flame rested in the palm of her right hand. It pulsated in accordance to the angel’s heartbeat. For a moment, it stopped still. Madoka felt as though the strange flame gazed at her, and, without warning, lifted itself up from The Demon’s palm, and floated next to Madoka, perching itself on her right shoulder. 

 

“Every single last one of my creations is so infatuated with you. I suppose it just goes to show how in love with you I am,” She flattered the confused Madoka, who, in any other context, would have been left blushing and speechless. 

 

But now, something was stuck in Madoka’s throat. It was doubt. “Can I ask you a question?” Madoka raised her hand hesitantly. Her nerves shook no matter how she steeled herself.

 

“Hm?” The Demon raised an eyebrow, curious as to what her goddess will ask.

 

Her lips moved before sound came out. “You’re not...Homura-chan, are you?”

 

Dead silence. Even the Liese crows that cawed uncontrollably were silenced. A thick wave of uncomfortable and drowning quietness filled the labyrinth. All of that, however, was cut like butter with a knife as the eldritch deity spoke her answer, “I’ve been told that a total of twice today.”

 

Madoka suddenly found herself face to face with The Demon. Her breath tickled Madoka’s neck, her dark reddish-purple eyes gazed into Madoka’s bright pink pupils. “I am Homura Akemi. No one else but Homura Akemi. I will protect you, I will safeguard you from all monstrosities that dare touch you, but above all…”

 

A wide grin spread across her face. 

 

“I will give you happiness. I love you, Madoka.”

 

[]

 

Every magical girl across the world desperately fought against the monstrous familiars spawned by both The Witch and The Demon. All of them, good or bad, placed their best efforts in protecting the people.

 

Some suffered a fate worse than death. Their soul gems corrupted into a complete black, mutating their souls into ugly, twisted aberrations known as witches. 

 

The witches Madoka Kaname had once fought so hard to destroy were now running amok, killing every last innocent man, woman, and child. They discriminated against no one. 

 

“Get it together!”

 

“Give her a grief cube! These things are much stronger than regular Wraiths!”

 

“This is too much! Let’s run!”

 

“There’s nowhere to run to!!!”

 

A humanoid shadow flew up from above, and descended as its wings readjusted themselves as a pair of black-purple boots clicked against the broken cement.

 

Her sudden appearance struck both fear and awe into the magical girls. They stared at her gorgeous black and white wings. Her shoulderless and sleeveless black swan dress fit her lusciously 

 

“To all the magical girls in the whole world, allow me to introduce myself,” The stunningly-beautiful black deity spoke, her wings slowly lifting her up into the air with a powerful grace, “My name is Homura Akemi. The first and only demon in existence.”

 

“W-what?!”

 

“A...demon?”

 

Her voice transmitted to every soul gem in the planet, linking them all to telepathy. The Demon smiled, as her message gets across. 

 

“I am finally revealing to myself to you all today, to tell you two things,” She held up two fingers, and smiled, “One. I have imprisoned the Law of Cycles, and have been acting in its stead for a very long time now. Now, as to why I’m telling you all of this now, that’s going into my second piece of information I’m going to divulge to you all here today.”

 

Her lips moved. 

 

Her voice drowned in the background of madness and despair.

 

Every magical girl’s eyes widened, their faces deep in a type of sorrow and despair after they heard what The Demon had to say. They somehow knew there was no hope against her declaration. It was the end of days. 

 

It was Armageddon.

 

“In order to defeat the witch, I need power. So….”

 

Her smile grew wider, to the point of nearly tearing apart her cheeks. 

 

“I will  **_consume_ ** you all.”

 

[]

 

“AAAHHHH!”

 

“RUN!!!”

 

“WE DON’T STAND A CHANCE!”

 

A winged silhouette charged with incredible speed towards every magical girl it could find, tearing their bodies apart while capturing their soul gems.

 

Before anyone realized it, The Demon had placed several soul gems into her mouth, and swallowed.In one loud gulp, she drank them down into the abyss of her stomach. 

 

_ When that girl sees this...I wonder...will she kill me? _

 

_ There’d be no greater honor if she were to cry for me. _

 

_ Oh Madoka~ _

 

Her Dark Orb revealed itself in a cloud of black smoke. Its once-vibrant amethyst gem was still murky, with only a speck of light garnered after consuming dozens of magical girls.

 

It was not enough. She needed more, so much more. The Demon was prepared to consume hundreds if not thousands of magical girls. 

 

The winged creature noticed the weaker witches who trembled in fear as they noticed her presence. She smiled. “And of course, I’ll consume you as well.” Her voice was seductive and pleasing to the ear. If only it didn’t have killing intent.

 

Without mercy, without hesitation, the eldritch deity tore apart every single magical girl and witch, globerring their soul gems and grief seeds gluttonously. 

 

More. She needed more. So much more. 

 

She would keep killing, she would keep consuming. After all….

 

Everything was for her sake.

 

[]

 

“Miki-san,” Homura’s voice eased its way into Oktavia’s helmet, “Do you feel that? Something wrong.” 

 

“Yeah,” Sayaka’s distorted voice emanated from the witch’s helmet, “That demon...she’s going around killing everyone!”

 

“Miki-san,” She called her name again, “Focus on finding Madoka. If I know anything about my other half, is that Madoka is most likely placed in a hidden labyrinth designed not just for protection, but for comfortability as well.”

 

“Comfortability? The hell does that mean?” Sayaka, through Oktavia, asked. 

 

“Most likely, she designed a labyrinth to look and feel exactly like Madoka’s house,” The time traveler responded, with a tinge of regret, “Go look for her. I’ll buy us some time.”

 

Oktavia stopped flying, and turned to look at the Homura on her back, “Wait, you aren’t planning to go on a suicide mission, are you?”

 

“Right now, everything’s a suicide mission. Besides,” A warm smile crossed the raven-haired girl’s face, “I have faith in Madoka. I believe she’ll undo all of this.”

 

“I never thought you’d want Madoka to go back to the Law of Cycles,” Oktavia made a slight nudge, as if she was smiling.

 

“I don’t, but,” She looked down at the ocean of corpses beneath her, “It’s much better than this.”

 

Without any more words, Homura jumped down from Oktavia’s back, and jumped from building to building, to catch up to her demonized self.

 

“Good luck, Homura.”

 

[]

 

“To think I used to be so weak,” The Demon snarled at the memory of her previous self. Utterly disgusted with how she used to be, the angel kept slaughtering her magical enemies without a single hint of remorse. She won’t stop, not any time soon. 

 

She saw a bear-outfit magical girl with slightly point blonde hair who held bear claws as weapons. That girl shivered as the evil angel glared down at her. Fear took control of her nerves, paralyzing her. The Demon smiled, and charged headfirst to the magical girl when a bright red light covered the sky, catching the angel’s attention.

 

“A flare?” The winged creature muttered, before seeing a glimpse of a raven-haired girl running into a burned down forest. “I see, so this was a way to grab my attention,” She whispered, as the other magical girl started to run for her life as fast as she could. 

 

Ignoring her, The Demon flew by the entrance of the forest, and descended elegantly on her feet. Before she set foot into the forest, her lizard-earring gained another crack on its jewel, alarming her. “I see, so it’s only a matter of time then.”

 

She walked into the murky, smoky forest. Tons of Witch familiars glared back at her, and charged, but with a slicing motion, The Demon cut them all in half in a single blow. “Ah, back then I was able to hide within dozens of familiars due to my low magical potential. Now though, I’m like catnip to them. Brings back memories.”

 

The further deep into the forest, the more The Demon grew confused. “No traps? That’s surprising.” 

 

“That’s because I didn’t come here to fight,” The time traveler revealed herself from a tree’s shadow, swinging her hair back eloquently, as she held her glock pistol, aiming it at her doppelganger’s forehead. “I’m here to talk.” She hesitantly lowered her weapon, before dropping it into the grass after she found that The Demon made no sudden move to attack.

 

“Talk? Really?” Her demonized twin sounded unconvinced, before shrugging her shoulders, “Well, go on. I’m waiting.”

 

“This world is already a failure. We can’t go on like this. Not only did Madoka’s Witch escape, but you are now in a rampage, and it’s only a matter of time before Madoka remembers everything and goes back to the Law of Cycles.”

 

“That much is already obvious. No need to go over it twice.” She said, mockingly. “And besides, weren’t you the one who released Madoka’s Witch? You aren’t fit in a position to say all of that to me.”

 

“Kuh-!” Hesitation washed over the human Homura’s face, but she recollected herself and continued, “When she does, the only thing she’s going to see is death and destruction. She’ll be sadder than ever before. The damages are already worse than Walpurgisnacht by a wide margin. So then...what exactly are you fighting for in this doomed world? Why do you keep fighting?”

 

“Isn’t it obvious?” The Demon tilted her head a full ninety-degrees, enough to snap her neck, “As long as there’s still breath in this body! As long as Madoka is still alive! There’s still a path to success. To a happy future!” With each passing word, she sounded more and more desperate. She was no longer sure of herself, “There has to be….a way.”

 

Homura extended her hand to her winged self, with a slight warm smile on her otherwise stoic face, “We can still fix this. We can work together to destroy Kriemhild Gretchen, we can pull back your familiars, and minimize the damages.”

 

“What...what are you getting at?” The evil deity gulped, as cold sweat dropped down from her neck. 

 

“Come with me. Let’s start over. Let’s fix all of this.”

 

She frowned. “It’s a little too late to be saying that.”

 

“We can still apologize to Madoka.” Her smile could heal the hearts of broken men.

 

“ _ Apologize _ ?” A wide, twisted grin malformed the otherwise beautiful features of the demonized Homura’s face. A speck of blood dropped from the time traveler’s lips, before The Demon continued, “ _ Now why would I do that _ ?”

 

“...what...just...happened…” The time traveler found herself on the scorched grass, and clenched her chest with utmost force. She couldn’t feel her heartbeat. Blood scourged out of her mouth violently, as she started to seizure uncontrollably. 

 

“Let’s talk about our parents,” The Demon licked her lips, “Our mother came from Germany, while our japanese father was on a business trip. On a business affair, they met and made love to each other. They married after that, and had a daughter named Homura Akemi. But through a twisted game of fate, their daughter had an incurable heart condition. She’d forever be stuck in a limbo of hospitals, pills, and surgery. Her only salvation was these fourteen Clara Dolls which are now my familiars,” The angel knelt down to the shaking time traveler. Her fingers loosened the purple bowtie on the magical girl’s suit, and unbuttoned her black-and-grey shirt, revealing a black bra with a scar running between her breasts. She touched the scar, and smiled, “When I, no,  _ we _ , transformed into a Demon, the scar disappeared, as if the world was telling us, ‘You’re not weak! You can do anything now!’ But well, the world isn’t very nice to you now, is it? It abandoned you, just like our parents abandoned US!!!! For BEING WEAK! Madoka saved us! Madoka had to leave us because we weren’t strong enough to protect her! We failed! There was no reason for us to exist anymore! Now I have enough strength to mow down her enemies and all those who dare make her sad. It doesn’t matter how far I have to fall. It doesn’t matter how dirty or how deep in the mud I have to be, as long as Madoka is propped up like the goddess she is, it’ll all be worth it. I am not going to revert back into a weakling, not like you. Our wish was to become strong enough to protect Madoka! But now, what I desire is the power to decimate anyone who gets in the way of Madoka’s happiness!......Oh, right,” The loquacious demon remembered something, as she grasped her human self’s long black hair, and lifted her up, “I made Sayaka Miki a promise once. The day I took over the world. Once all the wraiths have been dealt with, I’ll destroy the world,” Her smile widened to physically impossible proportions, “There’s none left. Last time, I simply casted a universe-sized labyrinth across the stars. Now, I won’t make the same mistake twice. I’ll destroy it all, and from the ashes, I’ll remake a world that’s perfect for Madoka. One without the need for despair, hope, or any other emotions apart from Love. Everyone in that new universe will love Madoka Kaname, and will never think to hurt, use, or manipulate her in any way. But...in order to do that, I need to consume not only every magical girl and witch in the planet, but I will also need to consume Kriemhild Gretchen and what remains of the Law of Cycles. You, my weaker half, aren’t needed in my vision,” She dropped the drooling incapacitated Homura into the charcoal soil, and snapped her fingers. “After all this time, what makes you think I’d hesitate? I’ve gotten so far, and the night is not yet over for me.”

 

Homura’s chest started to implode in on itself, before finally becoming a gaping hole where her heart used to be. “G--ggaaahhh…..”  _ It...won’t end...like this!  _ Her hand shuffled, albeit shakily, through her shield, and revealed a strange switch with a red button on top. She pressed it without hesitation.

 

Every single trap laid out in the forest activated, shooting out homing missiles locked into The Demon’s magical signature. “Tsk!” Over a hundred missile exploded upon impact. Any ordinary person would have been incinerated into cinders, but from within the cloud of smoke, The Demon was left soundly intact. With a gesture, she exorcised the smoke, but a strange shadowy substance latched itself onto her eyes, blinding her. 

 

“What?! What is this?!” No matter how hard she tried, the deity couldn’t tear off the strange substance that stubbornly continued to latch onto her face. 

 

“Everyone! Attack The Demon!!!” 

 

_ Sayaka Miki?! _

 

The Demon pushed her hands outward, blindly punching and kicking magical girls with lethal force. She felt her arm go through someone’s chest, with the stranger’s blood coughed on her face. 

 

The moment she dropped the dead magical girl, she felt a sharp object penetrate her back and out of her chest. A sudden force pushed her down, her legs knelt from the attack. A noose wrapped around her neck, squeezing the life force out of her. 

 

“Keep attacking! That won’t kill her!”

 

“Let..me guess!” She choked as the noose gradually grew tighter, “You gathered all these magical girls against me in an attempt to destroy me. And you used my human half as bait. And you, Sayaka Miki, call me a demon. What a hypocrite.”

 

The blue knight ignored her and rushed over to the time traveler’s side. She placed a hand over her cheek.  _ She’s cold!  _ She mentally screamed, “I gotta do this quick!” 

 

Sayaka knelt down and started to cast healing magic. Gradually, Homura’s chest started to close. But she didn’t have enough time. The magical girls she gathered started to die, one by one. With each death, The Demon grew stronger. But the angel continued to stay in place, as though bound by some kind of magic. “So you have blinding magic and gravity magic...how quaint.”

 

“Ah!”

 

“It’s impossible!”

 

“Kuro! Stand back! If she kills you, the blinds will dissipate and The Demon will be able to see again!” Sayaka screamed.

 

“N-no can do! She’s tearing through our forces like pudding! Just focus on healing Homura!”

 

She pushed her attention to Homura, and finally closed the gap….but the time traveler wasn’t breathing. “D-dammit! Com’on!” Sayaka pushed Homura’s chest with force, pushed her lips against hers, and started to perform CPR. 

 

The blue knight constantly tried to push wind out of Homura’s windpipe, but the time traveler was unnaturally still. “Don’t you die on me now!!!! HOMURA!!!”

 

**_“HOOOMMUUURAAA-CHAAAAAAN!!!!”_ ** A voice filled with distortion and twistedness echoed through the forest. Sayaka looked up, and found a massive arm the size of a skyscraper hover above her. 

 

“EVERYBODY! RETREA-” 

 

Miasma-toxic wind pushed away every magical girl in the area except for The Demon and the time traveler. The magic that had bound and blinded the angel had disappeared. She was free. 

 

Slowly opening her eyes, the fallen angel noticed the entire forest was surrounded by skyscraper-sized claws. Intense force suddenly hit her, thrusting her far away from the forest. “Guh!!!” The sheer pressure continued, propelling The Demon out of Mitakihara City and half-way across Japan. “Oooof!”

 

**_“DON’T WORRRYYY, HOMUURRAA-CHANNN. I’LL SAVE YOU.”_ ** A claw reached out and ensnared the time traveler’s corpse, and consumed her. 

 

**_“I SWEAR IT.”_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was the longest chapter ever, and I wrote it all in one day. I have to thank Dragon Ball Super for my sudden writer’s itch. Seriously. Two chapters in a single weekend, and one of them was extra lengthy. 
> 
> I love this chapter.


	28. Chapter 26: Armageddon V: Mihama I

As the tidal waves of darkness overshadowed the sky, eight magical girls fought against the tsunami of witches and familiars. One of the magical girls with long pinkish hair screamed her voice through the insanity, “Yachiyo!” Her attention moved to a long dark-blue haired girl who carried a spear-like staff, “My sister’s in the hospital! I need to get her out of there!” 

 

“Go, Iroha,” Yachiyo smiled, “Us seven magical girls can handle ourselves. Save Ui.” She raised her spear, and with inhuman agility, jumped against a mutated witch familiar, slicing it in half. 

 

“Thank you!” Iroha cried out, “Please! All of you, be safe!” 

 

A brunette with a metallic fan blushed at Iroha’s statement, and said, “Maaan, I really am not cut out for this~”

 

“Quit complaining, Tsuruno, we’re all exhausted. Keep moving!” Yachiyo scolded the brunette, as she commanded the rest of the magical girls. She checked the condition of her soul gem. It was near black, muddled in muddy blackness. Clicking her tongue, Yachiyo couldn’t help but mutter, “....not good….”

 

[]

 

“UI! Your onee-chan’s coming! Please, wait for me!” Iroha Tamaki cried out, aiming her attached crossbow to incoming doll-like familiars with giant bobbleheads and red-rimmed glasses. The miasma around her slowly devoured her stamina. Sweat crawled down to her back. 

 

Iroha was running out of time. 

 

The more she stayed in the miasma, the weaker she felt. “I….gotta get to the hospital-guh!” Her weak knees finally collapsed. Iroha’s exasperated face slowly looked up, and noticed a hospital surrounded by military personnel. 

 

She smiled. “I...made it!” Her feet forcefully pushed themselves back up as she cleansed her soul gem from these strange seeds the more powerful monsters dropped. Strangely, they were also a lot more effective than the grief cubes the wraiths dropped. In a matter of seconds, Iroha’s soul gem was almost squeaky clean. 

 

“Ui, I’m here. I-”

 

_ KABLAAAAM _

 

“-what? What was that?” A figure crashed into the hospital, shattering almost every single window in the building. It was like a rocket ship crashed itself into the building as fire started to spread from within the health center. “ **_UI_ ** !”

 

“ _ Wow. Now that hurt, _ ” A chilling voice perverted Iroha’s ears. Something emerged from the raging flames. Undeterred by the heat, the unknown creature banished the flames from the hospital. 

 

The silhouette dropped from the hospital and down into the sea of soldiers, violently and mercilessly tearing their heads off with a single hand motion. The sheer wind generated from her palm was enough to slice through bone. “Because of that wretched Sayaka Miki’s plans, my Dark Orb only managed to gather up twenty-five percent of its original power.” She started to stretch her arms and cracked her neck, clearly unphased by the amount of cuts, wounds, and gashes on her body. The skin on her back started to fluctuate, and two brand new wings emerged from her spine. “Much better.”

 

“A-...Akemi-san?” Iroha’s fear shriveled her nerves. 

 

“Yes, I’m Akemi,” The Demon responded, “To think I’d see you again, Tamaki-san. I must’ve been pushed back pretty far to find myself in Mihama City.”

 

“I didn’t want to believe it..but it really was true…” Iroha eyed her possible opponent while glancing at the hospital behind the enemy. Taking note of it, The Demon shrugged.

 

“If you’re worrying about Ui, she’s still alive and kicking in there,” She snickered, “You don’t have to worry about a thing.” In an inhuman fashion, the demonized Homura Akemi tilted her head a complete ninety-degrees. 

 

Iroha nearly cringed from The Demon’s unsettling body movement. “Why are you doing all of this?” She asked, nearly chastising herself for the sheer stupidity of that question. 

 

“Well, because I have nothing else to lose,” The winged creature answered, “Stopping now would be an insult to my enemies and to my  _ beloved _ .”

 

“B-beloved?” Iroha took a step back. She felt fear crawl up into her skin, but stood firm again when she thought about her little sister Ui. 

 

“Yes. I’m certain you have someone you cherish more than your life. It’s most obviously your little sister Ui Tamaki-san, and maybe Yachiyo Nanami-san. You cherish them, and you understand true love.”

 

“Kh-!” She raised her crossbow, and fired pinkish-red projectiles, but The Demon split herself in two, confusing Iroha, until the eldritch deity grabbed both of her hands, and smiled. 

 

“See? You agree with me,” A cruel smile was all Iroha saw, “But you see, my love is the strongest of them all.” Her wings flapped powerfully, bringing the two magical beings into the sky. Iroha struggled to wiggle her way out of her enemy’s grasp, to no avail. 

 

“You monster! I believed in you!” Iroha screamed. 

 

“Believed in me? We’ve only worked together once in this universe…” She stopped, her lips shut with a faraway look in her eyes, contemplating something, “Ah, but I’ve worked with you in other worlds. Other universes. Other times. Would you like to hear about that?”

 

Iroha’s eyes descended to the hospital and saw several witches, familiars, and wraiths wiggle their way into the building - to where Ui was. 

 

Bloody web-like cracks formed from the angel’s eyes down to her cheeks as her smile outstretched her thin face. “You wouldn’t know, but I remember of a time when I sacrificed my life to save Madoka. I finally defeated Walpurgisnaucht! It took everything I had and so much more. And yet your wish negated that hard work! Madoka might have become a magical girl, but at least she wasn’t a witch! And she was still alive with her companions! I was happy for HER!”

 

The Demon spoke of non-existent memories Iroha had no recollection of. “You! Oriko! Sayaka! You all stood in my way! Stood in the way of Madoka’s happiness!” 

 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!!!” 

 

“Then just die alrea-” A staff penetrated the miasma-infested air, cleaving through The Demon’s brain. The sheer force dropped Iroha, but before her face hit the concrete, a familiar dark-blue haired mage caught her - princess style. 

 

“Yachiyo…”

 

“Yes, it’s me,” Yachiyo said reassuringly, “I brought over our six other companions. Don’t worry, we can handle someone like Homura Akemi.”

 

“Good, that’s really good,” The Demon squirmed as she removed the spear lodged into her brain, “Yes, love at its core is the strongest emotion!” Dematerializing the spear-like staff, the demonic angel started to charge the dark powers within her body, with a web-like barrier surrounding her, as her expression remained clouded in darkness. “That’s love alright!”

 

“Iroha,” A calm, powerful, yet quiet voice grabbed the pink-haired girl’s attention, “Go grab your little sister and get out of here. As I said before, we’ll stop Homura Akemi here and now, you have nothing to worry about.” Yachiyo smiled warmly, “Go. Don’t make her wait.”

 

“Be careful, Yachiyo. Please. My little sister and I will be waiting for you.”

 

With that, Iroha ran to the hospital building, presumably to where her sister was. 

 

The angel descended ever so slightly, her attention solely and fully focused on Yachiyo Nanami alone. “You really think you seven could stop me here and now?” 

 

“It’s all about strategy, Homura Akemi. It’s what I learned from you,” with a snap of a finger, another blue-haired magical girl who donned a fancy kimono and double earrings raised her hands to the demonized deity, chanting some incomprehensible thing.

 

The Demon’s eyes widened in pain, her muscles and bones started to twist and turn beyond her control. She felt this sensation before. But where…

 

“Did you forget? I can control the flow of magic! And since you’re completely magic, controlling you is a piece of cake!” The brighter aqua-haired girl screamed valiantly, “If you ever had a human body, you should’ve kept it!”

 

“A-AGh!”  _ This..sensation! It’s just like poison!  _ She thought as her nerves worked against her. She couldn’t control herself, and moved like a marionette according to her enemy’s rules. 

 

“Everybody! Attack her! Now!”

 

The six other magical girls, including Yachiyo, readied their weapons as the aqua-haired magical girl kept the deity in place. Blood started to splurge out of her mouth as the absolute stress not only damaged her soul gem, but her body itself. “Hurry! I can’t hold out for long!”

 

It was absolutely useless. In a single moment, before any of them made a decisive blow, the angel disappeared from sight, seemingly to retreat. 

 

“Did she retreat?” Yui asked, dumbfounded. 

 

“Keep your eyes open,” Yachiyo said. 

 

“G-guys….” The aqua-haired unnamed magical girl clenched her stomach with both hands. She felt like her belly started to inflate, almost like she was giving birth at a stupidly-fast rate. It was an utterly hellish feeling, gaining several hundred pounds in a matter of seconds. “I-I’m sorry...IAEM sHURRYGAAHHH!!!!” 

 

Her body was torn apart from the inside, exploding like an excited grenade. An expression of pure dread filled her face in her last seconds. 

 

From her body emerged the monstrous devil coated in her blood. 

  
  


“You monster…” Yachiyo couldn’t help but snarl, “How dare you…”

 

“I never tried it before until now, so she was a good experiment,” The Demon cracked her knuckles, seemingly bored, “By warping my entire magical body inside of her, I effectively burst her body like a bubble filled with too much water. Thank you for letting me know I could do that.” She clapped proudly. 

 

“You bitch!” Yui cried out, jumping straight at her enemy’s neck, only to have her soul gem consumed in a blink of an eye. 

 

Every other magical girl charged at The Demon, but they shared the same fate. Empty corpses fell on the wet concrete. Drops of rain fell on their sullen and empty eyes. 

 

“It’s just you and me, Yachiyo Nanami,” The angel mimicked Yachiyo’s style of speech, obviously mocking her.

 

“You’ve changed,” A sad bitter frown made its way to her lips, “What happened to you, Homura Akemi?”

 

“People change along with the times. It’s only inevitable,” The angel shrugged like it was common knowledge, in a way completely unlike the Homura everybody used to know. Whatever was inside The Demon, whatever was behind her crimson-violet eyes was not, in short, recognizable. 

 

“Are you really...Homura Akemi?”

 

A sudden scream.

 

Too sudden.

 

Chills ran down Yachiyo’s spine.

 

“WHY?!!!!!!” She screamed. “WHY?! WHY?! WHY?! WHY DOES EVERYONE KEEP ASKING ME THAT?!”

 

She screamed. She snarled. Her implosive anger exploded all at once. Why did everyone ask her that question? What does she have to do to make them believe she was Homura Akemi? What was wrong with everyone? 

 

Questions like those ran through the fallen angel’s mind. Her feet dug fiercely into the concrete, shredding the inbetweens like clay. 

 

“Oh well,” A sudden calmness overshadowed her previous mental breakdown, and a slight wry smile became prominent, “I’m going to torture you now, Yachiyo Nanami.” She held out her palm, and revealed a dark-blue soul gem. It belonged to Yachiyo. “Did you know that the final form of a magical girl is a witch? Witches are those massive ‘wraith’s you see flying around that are much stronger than your average pack of Wraiths. The only reason why they didn’t exist until now was because of the Law of Cycles.”

 

Yachiyo realized what The Demon was planning. “I’m going to turn you into a Witch. Plain and something.” She knew it. 

 

Without hesitation, Yachiyo materialized her harpoon staff, to which The Demon chuckled. “I immediately killed six of your friends. What can you do to me?”

 

“You’re right.”

 

“I’m going to torture you and torture you and then I’ll transform you into a witch, then I’ll eat your abundant energy, then I’ll eat Tamaki-san’s soul gem. It’s going to be a hilarious sight. You should stick around, Nanami-san.”

 

“Unfortunately, I’ll have to decline, you damn sadist,” The harpoon’s blade that was once pointed at the eldritch deity now found its way near Yachiyo’s neck, surprising the raven-haired angel. 

 

“Huh….” 

 

“I won’t ever become a nuisance to Iroha. NEVER!” 

 

Since Yachiyo couldn’t destroy her soul gem, she prompted to destroy her body instead. With each stab, with each slice, her neck gurgled out gallons and gallons of red-hot blood. Her eyes became bloodshot with pain. She kept going and going, sheer willpower had no room for faltering. 

 

A drop of blood splattered on The Demon’s surprised face. 

 

Yachiyo’s lifeless body fell, and her soul gem shattered in the angel’s gloved palm. “Rest in pieces, Nanami-san.”


	29. Chapter 27: Armageddon VI : Salvation I

Homura opened her eyes and found herself staring at a bland, white ceiling staring back at her. Dazed and confused, she turned her view to the right of her hospital bed, where a short table stood. A pair of red-rimmed glasses lay on the table, facing her. She sighed. Yet another failure against Walpurgisnacht.

 

 _‘Strange’_ , she thought, sitting up. ‘ _I can’t remember anything.’_

 

A pounding headache was persistently making its presence known to the time traveler. Groaning, Homura buried her face in the blankets, hoping that the feel of the blanket would relieve the throbbing. She sighed. The action was to no avail. She stood, sighing again. The marble floor of the hospital was extremely cold against her bare feet as she walked across the room to retrieve a pair of slippers.

 

“Ah! You’re awake now, Akemi-san?”

 

A nurse stood in the doorway, holding out a set of Homura’s old clothes that she hadn’t worn for…. however long she’s been resetting the timeline. She took hold of the folded black clothes, nodding in gratitude to the nurse.

 

“I’ll go get the doctor then for some final checks, and then you should be free to go.”

 

The nurse left, closing the door. Homura locked it and began to change. The action was so smooth, so practiced, that she barely paid any attention to what she was doing. Instead, she tried to recall what had caused her to fail and reset again so she could try a different approach. Nothing came. She could not remember anything from her previous attempt. The memories from the attempt before were there. As she pondered the reason for her memory loss, something strange happened. Her vision blurred.

 

_‘My eyes… I thought I healed them. No matter. I’ll just do it again. Maybe it wears off.’_

 

Focusing on her soul gem, she navigated the imaginary lines connecting her magic to her body and attempted to divert some magic into her eyes again. Strangely, she found that she could not direct it to her eyes. While it was unusual, Homura shrugged. She would adapt, just like she has always done timeline after timeline. She unlocked the door, having finished changing, and walked back to sit on the bed while putting her glasses back on. The glasses felt clumsy, awkward, like they belonged to someone else in another time. At least she could see now.

 

The rest of the day passed as Homura would have expected. With the signing of a few papers, she left the hospital and headed home. The sun was setting, casting an orange light over the horizon of the city as she walked towards her house. About half an hour after leaving the hospital, she approached the solitary purple door which led inside. The paint was chipped in several places from a lack of care. On the ground was a small potted plant, which was beginning to show signs of dying from not being watered; a testament to how long Homura had been in the hospital before she began all this time travelling.

 

Inside, her school uniform hung on her bedroom door. She collapsed onto the bed, falling into a deep sleep almost immediately. She dreamt of Walpurgisnacht, of her time travelling, and of…

 

“Madoka…” she whispered in her sleep.

 

“Hehe, yes, Homura- _chan_?”

.

.

.

Homura’s eyes snapped open, heart racing. Ever vigilant, she woke to even the smallest disturbances but this was something else. Had she just heard _Madoka_ ’s voice? Normally, the sound of the pinkette’s voice would be soothing. Here, whether she had imagined it or not, it filled her heart with...something. Fear. She felt fear. Her heart beat faster. As quietly as she could, Homura began shifting her hand out from under the blanket towards the bedside lamp. Her heart beat even faster; it was starting to hurt. She grasped the chain and pulled. Her heart threatened to explode. Light flooded the room. There was…

 

“Nothing,” she muttered to herself. “It was nothing. Just my imagination. Just a bad dream.”

 

“Was it?” an uncomfortably familiar voice, not Madoka’s, whispered in her ear. She turned her head to the left so fast she was sure she pulled a muscle in her neck. Everything was blurry. She could make out a vague figure standing a few feet away. Keeping her gaze on the intruder, she reached for her glasses and put them on. Her vision cleared. There was nothing there.

 

Homura stood and turned in a complete circle. The room was empty. She was alone. Had she imagined it? She let out a breath, not realizing she had been holding it in. She could feel a chill in her spine. Whatever had just happened, it couldn't be good, at least not for her mental health. Maybe a shower would help clear her head. She grabbed a change of clothes and headed for her bathroom. On the way, she made sure her front door was locked. It was.

[]

Warm water cascaded down from the shower head. As she soaked her hair, she thought back to Madoka. The girl who had saved her from a witch in her first timeline.

 

 _‘It's strange,’_ Homura thought. _‘I've changed so much, yet I still see her the same way.’_

 

After about ten minutes, she stepped out of the shower. A black towel found its way into Homura’s hands. Had she looked in the mirror at this point, she would have realized something was horribly off. Instead, her focus rested on the bright violet Soul Gem resting on the counter. It was flashing, indicating a witch. Or at the very least, a familiar.

 

_‘In my house?’_

 

Without a second thought, she scooped up the glowing gem and transformed. The familiar weight of the shield resting on her left arm reassured her. Her hair was still dripping water, but that was of little concern for the moment. Scouring her whole house for an entrance to a barrier, she found nothing. Unconvinced, she looked again. There was no way her Soul Gem could be mistaken about the presence of a witch of a familiar. She returned to the washroom and finished changing clothes. Then, the mirror caught her eyes. If one of them could even be called that.

 

Horror growing each second, Homura walked closer to the mirror and stared. Her right eye, or rather where it should have been, was a crimson orb. A web of red cracks extended from that eye and ran down the entire right side of her face. Hands shaking, she took her soul gem out of her pocket. It was flashing again. She slowly brought it closer to her eye. It flashed faster. And faster. Even faster. Soon, it outpaced even the rapidly-beating heart of the time traveler.

 

 _‘I’m...a witch? No, that can't be right. I still have a Soul Gem. Did Walpurgisnacht do this to me? Did it have some type of attack I don’t know of? This is going to be a problem when_ Sayaka Miki _,_ Mami Tomoe _, and_ Kyouko Sakura _come into the picture. Let's not forget_ Kyubey _either…’_

 

A flurry of thoughts ran through Homura’s mind, and traces of the headache returned. Shaken, she decided to sleep again. Perhaps she would wake up and it would be gone. Perhaps this was just all a bad dream. With that in mind, she resolved to return to bed but sleep eluded her. What had happened to her eye? Had it been like that at the hospital? Was it invisible to normal people?

 

She figured it was, seeing as how witches couldn't be seen by normal humans anyway. This posed a new problem. She could not find witches with her Soul Gem. Eventually, she concluded that she'd have to stay on good terms with Mami Tomoe, since it would be difficult for her to track and hunt witches alone. She just hoped Madoka wouldn't be able to see the witch eye. She continued to think, and think, and think, until finally, exhaustion caught up and oblivion claimed her.

[]

_Beep beep. Beep beep. Beep beep._

 

The incessant ringing of an alarm clock roused Homura from her sleep. She had not slept well, often waking up in the middle of the night, spending ten or so minutes pacing back and forth before going back to bed. Each time, she checked the mirror hoping the red witch eye was gone, but she had no such luck. Sluggishly, she swatted at the alarm clock and turned it off.

 

It took some self-convincing, but she managed to leave her bed and get ready for school. It wasn’t so much that she wanted to go. Rather, she was afraid of what anomalies could occur if she _didn’t_ go. Changing into her school uniform took longer than she would have liked, a result of insufficient sleep. The webs had expanded slightly further, almost reaching the bottom of her jaw. She looked less like a person and more like a monster from some horror story. Clinging to the hope that her theory about regular people not being able to see her right “eye”, she left and headed towards the school.

 

Along the way, she noticed something weird. Everyone had a certain type of stiffness to their walk, and cars seemed to jitter as they moved along the road. No one reacted to her appearance as they walked past her, confirming Homura’s suspicions that her eye appeared normal to humans. The school came into view. A slight breeze had begun to sweep through the city, swaying her long black hair to the side as she stood on the crest of a hill near the school. She began walking toward the school.

 

_‘Now is when it really starts. This time, I will succeed. I swear it.’_

[]

As soon as she walked into the classroom, she immediately noticed something amiss. Two things amiss. One, Madoka wore no ribbons in her hair. This had never happened, and while it seemed trivial, time travel taught Homura that the butterfly effect was as real as it could be. Second, a certain blue-haired girl stared at her intently. Or more specifically, the ocean-blue eyes were trained onto the right side of Homura’s face. Sayaka had never contracted before Homura’s arrival. This put even more strain on the timeline. Now Homura had much more to account for.

 

As per usual, math class went with the teacher asking around for everyone to try a question on the board. For a reason that Homura could never understand, Sayaka was hopeless at the simplest of equations. She watched as the blunette stood at the board, still as a statue, her hand holding the pen against the board.

 

“Would anyone like to help Miki-san?” the teacher asked, after a brief pause. Nobody moved. Then Homura stood and walked over, taking the pen from Sayaka. As she did so, she slipped a small piece of paper into the taller girl’s hand. Grateful for the rescue from the math, and curious as to the paper from the transfer student, she returned to her seat while Homura finished the question. The rest of the class passed in silence. Soon after, the lunch break rolled around. On the roof, Homura found Sayaka Miki waiting, just as she had asked on the paper.

 

“Hello, Miki-san. I assume you know why I asked to meet you here?”

 

“You mean those red lines on your face and your eye, transfer student? Looks nasty. I don’t know what happened to you, but you’ve been triggering my Soul Gem all morning. Mami-san’s too. What happened to you? Where are you from, for that matter?”

 

Homura flinched a little. The blunette’s voice held a tone of concern that Homura had never heard, at least not directed at her. Regardless, her own tone of voice remained neutral.

 

“Tokyo, and I don’t know what could have happened to cause this. I hadn’t even noticed before yesterday, either.”

 

Sayaka tilted her head in thought, then brightened.

 

“Ah! How about you come with me to Mami-san’s place after? Maybe she knows something about it, Akemi-san.”

 

Homura highly doubted Mami would know anything about the peculiar state of her eye, but it didn’t hurt to try. She allowed herself to open a small smile at the blue-haired magical girl. Perhaps she could try to befriend the two this time.

 

“Just call me Homura. We’re both magical girls, after all.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was written by WinterCactus. The writer has some real talent, really. Since I needed help on a certain arc, I asked Cactus to lend a hand. Gotta say I really did enjoy this chapter when I read it. 
> 
> As the main writer of this story, I had to change a few details on the chapter just for continuity sake (since WinterCactus and I have somewhat different styles of writing). But everything else was pretty much left intact.


	30. Chapter 28: Armageddon VII: Mihama II

Drops of blood-red tears brushed themselves against the ravenette’s solemn cheeks. Her slick black hair tainted by a daunting amount of blood. The fallen corpses of the Mihama magical girls surrounded her in a near perfect circle. 

 

A Dark Orb flaunted itself in the stagnant air, its vibrant colors nearly at full swing. Its master, however, was as still as a statue, her face cranked up - her focus on the darkened skies, with a slight smirk. 

 

_ Splash. _

 

Her reddish eyes darted to the source of the noise. Heavy boots hit the puddles of rain, scurrying in a hurry - away from The Demon herself. 

 

A pink-hooded figure carried a limp patient in her arms like a princess. The ravenette’s eyes met with the figure’s pinkish red eyes, frightening the girl. 

 

She stood still, paralyzed with panicked thoughts rustling through the hooded figure’s brain. Ui, her sister, took up both of her arms, and all she could do was run away from the demonized creature that stood before her. 

 

“Hello, Iroha,” The raven-haired demon whispered, with no intention of moving. 

 

Iroha twitched. Her eyes looked down at her archnemesis’ feet, and noticed half a dozen corpses. Not a single one of the girls were spared. “GH!” It took every inch of willpower to hold back the gagging vomit clogged in her throat. The raw stench of blood perverted her nostrils, her body woozy from it. “You….monster.”

 

The Demon’s lips remained still. In a strange trance, the winged deity eyed Iroha and her sister Ui. Something moved behind those empty crimson pupils. From head to toe, the abomination studied Iroha, intrigued and strangely captivated by her appearance. 

 

They both stood still, watching each other for any sudden movements. Ui slept peacefully on Iroha’s arms, completely unaware of the tension she was in. 

 

It lasted for what felt like an eternity. Nervous sweat trickled down Iroha’s spine. In one brave moment, the hooded pinkette’s feet picked up, and ran off in the opposite direction of The Demon. 

 

The raven-haired deity simply watched as Iroha retreated with her sister in her arms. In a surprise, the damned angel let them go. 

 

Was it out of mercy? Was it out of guilt? Regret? No. It wasn’t any of those. It was simply out of nostalgia. 

 

A vivid memory surfaced in her mind. 

 

She remembered the clutching sensation. She sympathized somewhere deep in that tainted heart of hers with Iroha, with how protective she was over Ui. The tainted Homura Akemi once lived that very scene, with a limp Madoka in her arms. 

 

Close to her chest, Homura Akemi shielded Madoka Kaname from the soothsayer, Oriko. She shielded her from Kyubey, from enemy magical girls, from Walpurgisnacht, to all kinds of different monsters in different forms. In a way, it was her happiness to know that she was strong enough to protect Madoka. 

 

Would she ever get a chance to hold her again? 

 

Would she ever get the chance to be Madoka’s knight in shining armor again?

 

No. That role was pulled from under her by someone who never understood her pain, her struggle. 

 

The ‘best friend’ of Madoka Kaname, aka Sayaka Miki, became her right hand. The one who had cursed her in countless timelines became her most loyal lieutenant. 

 

To see Sayaka Miki proudly strutting next to the holiest of all….

 

Oh the  **_envy_ ** she felt...

 

“But it doesn’t matter. Not anymore.”

 

Homura Akemi. Murderer. Monster. Witch. Demon. Devil. Satan. She would gladly carry all the evil in all of existence if it meant being Madoka’s protector again.

 

Iroha disappeared, cursing The Demon with whispered insults as she clenched Ui against her chest with sisterly affection. 

 

With lax movement, The Demon’s feet pushed themselves through the concrete, walking through the broken roads of Mihama City. Time was running out for her. 

 

But that’s quite alright. After all, the night hasn’t ended. No, not yet. 

 

Not yet. 

 

Everywhere her feet took her, piles of corpses followed. Her Dark Orb shined ever-brilliantly now. She was ready. 

 

[]

 

“Dammit!” Sayaka punched the innocent concrete with overwhelming anger, “Dammit! I almost had her!” Her hands covered her sobbing face. It took all she had not to go into a hysterical breakdown, “A-and...the human Homura...she...was killed...I can’t take this anymore!”

 

She proceeded to slap her cheeks, gritting as she left her face beet red. “That’s enough whining, me!” Shaking herself out of it, Sayaka materialized a sword, and projected her concentration on Oktavia. 

 

The Mermaid Witch had been through countless labyrinths searching for Madoka to no avail. It felt futile searching for the pinkette. 

 

All these mazes spawned by all kinds of Witches threw off Oktavia. It was like hiding a leaf in a forest. It was practically impossible with all these red herrings. 

 

Another maze flowed into existence, and as the Mermaid Witch weaseled her way into the pocket dimension, Sayaka’s control over her witch was unplugged. The blue-haired knight felt a disgusting aura seep its way into her nostrils. 

 

It was much stronger than before. Filled not with a sense of pure death-defying calmness, but of pure cold-hearted chaos, the winged figure approached Sayaka. 

 

Sayaka glared at her, her crystal-blue eyes nearly reddening with rage. She clenched her fists tightly, blood dripped from her fingers, but she kept her calm. Her opponent hadn’t attacked yet. 

 

“I take it you knew I was coming here sooner or later?” The winged creature spoke with invigorating power. Those reddish-violet eyes gazed into Sayaka’s crystal blue, with no intent to fight - at least, not yet. 

 

“No, I didn’t,” Sayaka said, “But I do know I got close to Madoka’s prison cell. Or ‘happiness’ as your twisted mind likes to call it, if you’re here.”

 

“Haha,” She laughed dryly. Her wings stretched out, with a kind of hidden exhaustion. For a moment, Sayaka’s enemy looked lost, tired. “Something  _ happened  _ to me,” The deity placed a great emphasis on ‘happened.’ Her feet paced around Madoka’s right-hand knight. “Ever since the Law of Cycles tore me apart - no, long before that, my existence had become corrupted. Different. The things I had to do, the rules and responsibility that bounded me, were no more. I felt free.”

 

“What? Finally graduated from being a snobby bitch to a hardcore stalker? Congrats.” Sayaka snarled with a sarcastic clap.

 

She laughed dryly again. “Before I became a magical girl, I was bound by heart disease,” Her wings closed, and covered her own face, her expression hidden beneath a mask of black feathers, “When I became a magical girl, I was bound by time,” The Demon looked at the cautious Sayaka, and couldn’t help but mentally snarl, “When Madoka became the Law of Cycles, I was bound by memory.”

 

_ Keep talking, demon. Just a little more and I can reestablish connection with Oktavia, just a little more- _

 

“Bound by purpose, I deliberately punished myself with the worst of missions. With the worst of battlefields. Heroes like you glorify it, but in the end, a battlefield is nothing short of Hell.”

 

“Don’t you DARE undermine Madoka’s sacrifice-”

 

“In the false world, deep inside my soul gem, I was bound by lies. Lies so thick I didn’t want to leave. It was such a tortuous Hell that it felt like a Utopia. You were there. You watched it all,” Her finger pointed at Sayaka, her expression blamed the knight, “You knew what the incubators were up to, and yet you allowed me to live.”

 

Sayaka’s lips twisted and curled up, a breath escaping her mouth. She hated what she was about to say, “Madoka loved you. More than Nagisa. More than me. Even when I was right by her side, all she saw was you. You were the only one truly in her heart, the only one who truly gave her peace of mind. One thing I overlooked, no,” She corrected herself, “One thing I ignored, was that before Madoka was a god, before she was a magical girl, she was just...a fourteen year old girl. I looked up to her. I admired how she saved everyone. I held up my own expectations over her, and I think that probably suffocated her.” 

 

“....”

 

“Madoka looked up to you,” Sayaka felt nauseous just saying it, “It’s probably because you didn’t expect such big things from her, it’s because you didn’t want her to shoulder such a burden that she loved you the most. But even with all that, she was proud at what she was doing. When she heard that you were trapped by the incubators, there was something in her eyes I’ve never seen before. Anger and desperation. She dropped everything and dived straight into Earth. It took Nagisa and I all we had just to convince her to wait just a few days to develop a plan to free you. You were always on her mind. She never once stopped thinking about you, Homura,” For the first time in a long time, Sayaka called the eldritch creature by name, “She loved you. You were her number one.”

 

“Was I?” Akemi asked, unconvinced. 

 

“What? Even after I said all those creepy things you still don’t-”

 

“Of course I don’t believe you, but there’s an underlying problem in all of that. You aren’t the cause of my doubt, Sayaka Miki. Madoka is.”

 

“Madoka could never lie about any-”

 

“Did you know Madoka could see through all different timelines? Did she ever tell you that?” Akemi licked her lips in satisfaction when she saw Sayaka confused, “That much is true. So then why, WHY DID SHE LET ME EXIST?!” Anger. Pure wrath overwhelmed Akemi’s emotions. Sayaka flinched. “Was there any purpose to my maddening existence? Did she deliberately let me capture her? Was there some kind of purpose to that? Or did she just believe I would never do that?”

 

“W-what? She never told me tha-”

 

“Of course she didn’t. You wouldn’t understand her. In fact, it would just reinforce the idea that she’s just and pure. A machine of justice, a machine of salvation. But none of that is relevant to the situation at hand. I’m talking about me, and only me. Madoka may be the cause, but I’m talking about the effect. That moment I tore Madoka apart, I felt so free. Whatever responsibilities I’ve held, whatever duties I was forsaken to - none of it mattered. If I was enslaved to anything, it was to myself. And even then, when the holy half of the Law of Cycles tore me apart, I didn’t lose a wing. I was a new person, in a way. Unplugged from my human half. The me you see here today understood the rules I laid out for myself, but I couldn’t follow them. My desires won against my morals. That is my existence, and because of that, I stand here because you stand here, Sayaka Miki.”

 

A sudden realization hit Sayaka. One of utter fear.  _ Don’t let it be true,  _ Sayaka prayed,  _ Please don’t let it be true. _

 

“I’ve changed. I’m different. Free from the systems of my heart, free from the systems of time, free from the systems of responsibility, and free from the system of humanity,” A wry smile dawned on her lips.

 

A voice from behind caused Sayaka to draw out her sword, on guard to a very familiar voice. It was one too similar to Akemi.

 

Another raven-haired girl garbed in a black funeral dress walked down from outdoor stairs, the rain puddles gurgling as this other Akemi placed her rain-boots against them. She finished the winged Akemi’s sentence with pride, “And I feel fantastic.”

 

“I will not let you escape me, Sayaka Miki,” Another twin voice warped its way from Sayaka’s right.

 

“I will bind and bend you to my will, and if that’s not possible…” An Akemi garbed in a white dress warped to Sayaka’s left. 

 

One last one, one with the original magical girl attire, but with a bow and corroded wings, spawned next to the demonized Akemi, “Then I shall simply destroy you. There’ll be no trace of you left.”

 

“What the hell…” Sayaka took a step back and materialized her swords. She was outmatched and outnumbered. In front of her was the most corrupted demon and behind her was the most wretched witch in the entire universe. There was no way she was getting out of this alive-

 

A sudden shock-wave paralyzed the group of magical entities. The flow of corrupted magic suddenly cleansed itself for just a moment before tainting again. Off into the distance, beyond the skyscrapers and beyond the veil of darkness was a single ray of pink light. 

 

It’s sudden appearance damaged the Demon and her look-alikes, as the angel’s body started to burn like someone poured holy water on her. “U-ughhh….” She squinted, disoriented by the sudden cleanse. 

 

But the light dissipated as quickly as it came. 

 

However, Sayaka’s body started to lit up and glow a faint holy blue. Her murky soul gem became bright and powerful - more than it had ever been. 

 

“ _ Huh~ _ ...looks like I just can’t catch a break, can I?” Akemi said, ruefully. 

 

“Thanks, Madoka,” Sayaka smiled, as several dozen swords materialized around her. She grabbed an enchanted blue sword, and stabbed herself through the heart. Water poured forth from her wound, giving birth to three Oktavias. “Prepare yourself, Demon. I, Sayaka Miki, will put you down.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been watching too much Matrix...it's been showing up in my writing. Darn it.


	31. Chapter 29: Armageddon VIII: Salvation II

Mami Tomoe’s apartment was immaculately furnished. From the doorway, Homura could see a circular wooden table sat in the centre of the room, surrounded by three chairs. Of course, Homura knew exactly what Mami’s apartment looked like, seeing as how she always went there over the first few timelines. Upstairs, there was a smaller, triangular glass table clearly meant for people to sit on the ground in front of it.

 

As she sat there with Sayaka on another end of the table, she contemplated the many things she could say to Mami during this meeting. Particularly, what had happened which caused Sayaka to contract so early. She was shaken out of her thoughts as Mami ascended the stairs, somehow holding three cups of tea and three plates with cheesecake between two hands. It was one of those things that Homura would never understand: how she managed to take hold of so many things at once.

 

“So, Akemi-san,” Mami begins. “Sayaka told me you were the one causing our Soul Gems to react but to see it up close is…”

 

“Like I said to Miki-san, I don’t know what could have caused this. It wasn’t there until yesterday when I got out of the hospital. Or at least, I didn’t notice it until then.”

 

Three Soul Gems sat on the glass table, purple, blue, and yellow, all flashing like strobe lights. We all stared at the grouping of gems in silence. It was clear from the lack of conversation that none of them had any idea what to do about it. They simply stared in silence. And stared. And stared. Until a pain seared through the right side of Homura’s face, causing her to clutch at it. A blinding light filled the room.

 

The pain grew more intense, and the light shone brighter. It was the Soul Gems reacting. _Reacting to...what exactly?_ Vague, muffled, distant, Homura could hear the clatter of glass on the table and voices reaching through the light.

 

“Akemi-san?”

“Homura?”

 

The pain subsided, the light faded. The ravenette still clutched her face and winced in pain, but looked up to see Sayaka and Mami standing, concern plastered over their faces. She stood shakily, retrieving her Soul Gem.

 

“I...I think it’s time for me to go. I’m not feeling-”

 

“Ummm, Akemi-san? I t-think you should see this. Come over here,” Mami said, leading the stoic girl to the washroom. Confused, Homura looked in the mirror, then widened her eyes in terror. Pure, unadulterated terror.

 

Whereas the night before and throughout the school day, the red webs had been confined to just the right side of her face and her right eye, she now found two red irises staring back at her in the mirror. Her knees gave out. For the first time in several timelines, fear gripped her heart like a plague determined to squeeze the life out of her. Homura held her hands out in front of her as she stared down at them, kneeling. Her mouth opened and closed. No words came out.

 

“A-Akemi-san?”

 

Mami had placed her hand on the distressed girl’s shoulders in what she hoped was a comforting gesture. Homura looked up, meeting the warm golden eyes with her now-red eyes. It seemed everything was about firsts this timeline. Homura’s mask cracked as she absorbed the fact that her eyes were behaving like a witch, at least in terms of setting off Soul Gems. Sayaka slowly walked up to the washroom door.

 

“Hey, Homura. It’s alright, yea? We won’t see you differently for this. We’re going to figure out what this is and fix you up, yea?”

 

The blunette was graced with no response from Homura as she looked back down at the palms of her hand like she wasn’t sure who they belonged to. Her body shook and water droplets fell onto the palms. Sayaka walked forward a bit more and tried speaking again.

 

“Let’s get you home. I’ll accompany you. Mami-san, can you speak with Kyubey whenever you see him and ask? Maybe he’ll know.”

 

“O-oh. Yes, I’ll ask him when I see him next.”

 

Homura felt a set of hands grasping her shoulders, pulling her up onto her feet.

 

“C’mon, let’s go. You’re gonna go home and sleep it off, yea? I’ll walk with you. Let’s go.”

[]

The two girls walked across the bridge in silence. Homura remembered the countless times she had walked across this bridge with Madoka. Then, she heard a voice.

 

_“Wake up. You must wake up and remember where you really are.”_

 

The voice belonged to Sayaka, she was sure of it. Homura turned to the blunette beside her.

 

“Pardon?”

 

“What?” Sayaka responded.

 

“Didn’t you just say something? Something about..waking up?”

 

Sayaka tilted her head in confusion, expression clouding.

 

“I haven’t said anything this entire time… Are you feeling alright? Ah, that’s a stupid question, isn’t it? Maybe you’re just hearing things from exhaustion?”

 

“Maybe,” Homura said, looking unconvinced. “Just maybe…”

[]

A week passed. No web of red cracks appeared in the left side of her face, although her eye remained red. Each day, she attended school as usual. Each day, she would go home wondering if she could survive until Walpurgisnacht without any grief seeds. She spent the weekends bolstering her arsenal from the JSDF armouries, as she had done so many times before. However, she also took the time to approach Madoka. It felt awkward speaking to a Madoka that she was not familiar with. Not only did the pinkette let her hair down, but she seemed more confident than usual. She knew nothing of witches or magical girls whatsoever, even though Sayaka had contracted, which should have been a good thing.

 

Kyubey had made no attempts to even get near Madoka, a fact that only fueled her suspicions that the Incubator was planning something. But what? She had no answer. Communication with Sayaka Miki and Mami Tomoe had tapered off, as they could not hunt witches with Homura around. That's how she found herself sitting in her own house with nothing to do. She sighed, turning on her laptop. She may as well catch up on some news.

 

 _‘If only I could approach Madoka. But Sayaka knows too much that if I do, it'll only arouses suspicion_ ,’ she thought. ‘ _I should tell them about Walpurgisnacht soon_.’

 

Her thoughts drifted to the pink-haired girl who held Homura’s heart at its very core. She sighed. She loved the pinkette so much, but it hurt that she would never get any affection back. No matter. If Madoka’s happy, she would be happy. She sighed.

 

“Wake up, Homura- _chan_. The real world is waiting, hehehe.”

 

Homura turned her head so fast stars appeared in her vision. The voice had been right behind her. Madoka’s voice. But, just like a week ago, she saw nothing. Homura shook her head. She was definitely losing it.

 

“I need more sleep. Maybe then, I'll stop hallucinating her voice,” the time traveler said, trying to convince herself more than anything else.

 

“Nah, you need to wake up. C’mon, Homura. Wake up, lazyass,” another voice called. It sounded like Kyouko. Homura had no time to even react.

 

“Snap out of it, Homura! People are dying out there!” another voice like Sayaka called out.

 

Voices filled her house. She clamped her ears, hoping to drown it out, but in a sick twist, the voices sounded inside her head. She screamed. The voices were overwhelming her. She needed an escape. An escape.

 

She ran to the bathroom, filled the sink with water, and started splashing her face. Steam rose when the water made contact with the crimson webs that spanned her right cheek. The voices persisted. They filled every bit of air in her house, every thought in her mind, every sound in her ears. She screamed. She retched. She tore at her hair. Nothing worked.

 

She felt sick in her chest, she felt sick in her stomach. She felt sick in every single fiber of her being.

 

ShefeltsickshefeltsickshefeltsickshefeltSOGODDAMNSICK.

 

She snapped.

 

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN, ‘WAKE UP’?”

 

The voices stopped. It was deafeningly silent. This infuriated Homura.

 

“ANSWER ME! WHAT DO YOU MEAN?”

 

Silence. The bathroom mirror stared back at her, as if saying “Really? Do I have to show the reflection of this madwoman?”

 

Silence. The silence was deafening. Her head drooped. She allowed it to submerge in the water. Her hair splayed around her head, floating on the surface even as her face went under.

 

She was fine. She was not fine. She was many things at that moment.

 

Somewhere, deep down, she knew she was not awake. She did not know what that meant.

 

Homura Akemi did not know.

[]

The next day, she awoke with a single, black feather on her bed. It looked and felt very familiar. The time traveller could sense traces of magic coming from it, but could not recognise it. She pocketed it, dismissed it from her thoughts for later, and got ready for school.

 

The sky was grey.

 

‘Strange,’ she thought.

 

The sky was never grey this early in the timeline. She dismissed it, filing it into the recesses of her thoughts along with the strange black feather. The walk towards the school was uneventful. At least, until her vision turned red. It was as if someone had put a filter over her eyes which tinted everything she saw red.

 

‘Well, that's great, isn't it?’ she thought dryly. She closed her right eye. Her vision returned to normal. She closed her left eye and opened her right. Her vision tinted red.

 

As she continued walking, she hoped Mami had gotten some _helpful_ answers from Kyubey.

 

School passed slowly. Every minute, every second, felt like an hour to the black-haired girl. Homura yearned to get the day over with, to get one step closer to Walpurgisnacht. This had to be the time when she succeeded.

 

When the lunch hour finally rolled around, she made her way up to the rooftop to meet with Sayaka and Mami again.

 

“Hello,” Mami greeted as she approached.

 

“Yo,” Sayaka said.

 

Homura jumped straight to the point, not bothering with greetings.

 

“Did Kyubey ever talk to you two about whether or not he wanted to contract anyone else in the city?”

 

“No, not really. He caught me while I was in the hospital visiting someone,” Sayaka responded. The two younger students looked at their elder companion.

 

“No, I'd have to say he hasn't. By the way, Akemi-san, I spoke with Kyubey last night. He says he doesn't really know about what's happening to your eyes either. Something about witchifying?”

 

“What about you two? Have you two senses any high-potential candidates in the school?”

 

“Nope.”

 

“No.”

 

Dread began to seep into Homura’s heart. A silence that seemed to slow down time itself hung in the air. She turned to the blunette.

 

“Sayaka? No? Nothing from that pink-haired girl in our class?”

 

Sayaka tilted her head slightly and stared at Homura as if she had gone crazy.

 

“Pink...hair? No one in our class has pink hair… are you feeling alright, Homura? Homura?”

 

Sayaka would get no response, as the stoic time traveler was already hurrying away. Something was very wrong with this timeline. She was sure she had seen Madoka at school the entirety of last week, and even this morning in class. She stalked through the school hallways, students of varying ages standing or sitting on either side. Entering the classroom, she looked at the seat next to Sayaka.

 

A bright sign displaying the words “No Occupant” flashed on the screen on the floor. Yet, there she was. Madoka was sitting at that spot, the desk fully expanded. Homura walked up to that desk.

 

“Madoka?” she whispered. The pinkette turned and smiled at her, a sight that still made her stomach flutter.

 

“Don't worry, Homura-chan. You'll be awake soon,” Madoka said, still smiling.

 

Vaguely, she was aware of nearby students pointing at her and murmuring. One of the phrases she heard was “Why is the transfer student talking to empty space? She's crazy…”

 

Her blood froze.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double Chapter! 
> 
> The Salvation arc is being written by WinterCactus. Check out his work on fanfiction!


	32. Chapter 30: Armageddon IX: Independence I

Akemi stared dumbfoundedly at Sayaka’s declaration, and scoffed at the shining blue knight’s aura. “Take me down? Oh please, Sayaka Miki. There’s a time and place for dreams-” Before she even finished her sentence, a holy sword struck through The Demon’s abdomen. The momentum sent her tripping across the shattered concrete. She looked up at the darkened sky in a stupor, before realizing she was impaled through the stomach with a sword that held itself steadily into the concrete. 

 

The sword burned and sneered her skin, tearing her apart like holy water, but The Demon didn’t react nor did she care. Pain was nothing to her at this point, but one thing pissed her off more than anything in her universe. It was the look of stupid confidence on Sayaka Miki’s overly-boyish features. Her expression was flat but clearly seething with  **_rage_ ** .

 

“Huh? You didn’t see the amazing Sayaka-chan move? It’s only natural, after all, because I’m Sayaka-chan!” The blue-haired knight winked, obviously mocking the raven-haired pariah. 

 

The devil glared at her, unamused. She grasped the sword that impaled her abdomen. Immediately, her wrist started to sizzle and burn, but Akemi clenched her teeth, and tore out the holy sword from out her. The demonized deity gracefully raised herself up back on her two feet, and healed her gaping wound. “Doppels! Attack her!”

 

“Oktavias! Intercept them!”

 

The fake Homuras and the three Oktavias charged into each other, finalizing their own battle as the winged angel ascended into the miasma-thick sky, and held out her palm. A shadow sphere materialized above her palm, quickly gathering in size. 

 

“Shit!” The sphere skyrocketed towards the empowered Sayaka, just narrowly missing her while destroying several buildings in the background. As she gathered her wits, a speeding devil summoned several dozen darkness-infused arrows, and rained down destruction to the blue archangel. 

 

Materializing dozens of her own swords, Sayaka desperately flung them to intercept the arrows, just barely keeping up with the barrage of chaos before The Demon warped right below her, and punched her straight in the gut. The next thing the archangel saw was a flying creature jumping right on top of her.

 

Without a split second to lose, Sayaka materialized a sword, blocking a strange-looking katana infused in some kind of incorporeal material. The katana itself was a part of Akemi’s left arm, slowly destroying the infused azure light within Sayaka’s own sword. 

 

“Sonofa-” In panic, Sayaka spawned another sword and stabbed The Demon straight in the neck. Akemi nearly flinched back and howled in pain, but maintained her grip on the blue archangel, before a massive hand grasped her back and flung her like a ragdoll to the side. 

 

It was an Oktavia that pushed the eldritch deity out of the way. The ravenette’s hand hovered over the burning sword, and once again it sizzled her hand, but without a care for the burn, she tore it out of her neck, dematerializing the weapon before it hit the ground. 

 

“Filthy self-proclaimed archangel!” The lavender pariah’s body enlarged itself, clearly towering over Sayaka and the Oktavias. She grew to the size of a titan, her towering hand grasped the startled blue knight with intense, ferocious speed, and flung her through the fallen skyscrapers. 

 

“Geh!!!” A stray Oktavia caught a falling Sayaka and gently placed her on the watery concrete. Blue eyes blinked at the devil’s silhouette that shot straight into the sky. 

 

The Demon’s body shrunk back down to human size, stretching her eyes as a pair of lavender pupils motioned Sayaka forward. “That surge in power was clearly borrowed from the Law of Cycles. It’s….an insult to Madoka and I.”

 

Akemi’s magic  **_seethed_ ** with anger. A pair of fuchsia eyes shifted to the blue knight, full attention to her.

 

“Your entire existence is an insult,  _ transfer student _ .”

 

[]

 

Dim lights penetrated a pair of eyelids. A groan escaped her lips as she turned over, ignoring the invasive light. “Sakura-san,” A sweet voice honeyed its way into her ears, “Sakura-san, you need to wake up.”

 

“w-what...Mami?” Red eyes slowly focused in on a blonde-haired magical girl who looked peeved yet worried. Nagisa and Yuma were behind her, with their arms crossed. 

 

“Kyouko-oneechan...you big dummy!” Yuma pouted, clearly peeved as the redhead grew startled. Her crimson eyes darted around, seeing the sorry state of the town around her. 

 

“Huh? Who’re you calling a dummy?! You dummy!” Kyouko chuckled before gritting in pain. Below her abdomen was a burn on her side, clearly made from magic. 

 

“Sakura-san, now’s not the time. You too, Yuma-san,” The older veteran glared at the two, while Nagisa flinched back from Mami’s unusually stern tone. “I am very  _ very  _ angry with you, Sakura-san, but I know that you were tricked by The Demon to work under her.”

 

The redhead clicked her tongue, annoyed by Mami’s comment, “She didn’t trick me, Mami. She made me a deal.”

 

“A deal?”

 

“Yeah. If I helped her, she would revive my parents and my little sister. I’d get to see them again…” Her voice choked, “That’s what I’ve wanted for a very long time…”

 

“Sakura-san…” A pair of hazel-yellow eyes formed a small spark of pity, before turning into strictness. A large ‘smack’ reverberated through a stunned Kyouko’s cheek, stuck in a stupor as to what happened. 

 

Mami Tomoe ha slapped her.

 

“Look around you, Sakura-san,” The blonde veteran pushed the wolfish girl upward and supported her weight, “Look.”

 

Fire, flames everywhere. 

 

Corpses colored the streets with a dull red. 

 

“ah….No...please…” Kyouko felt a sudden pang of guilt fall deep from her throat down to the bottomless pit of her stomach. 

 

It wasn’t the blood or the stench or even the hurling crowd of witches, familiars, and dolls perverting the once-blue azure sky. No, it was none of those things. In fact, it was the children. Dozens of children - it reminded her of that blazing, burning night. It reminded her of the abnormally-still corpse of her sister - Momo Sakura.

 

“Akemi-san is insane. She has to be put down. I’m sorry, Sakura-san, but we can’t afford to let her go any longer. We owe Kaname-san, no, the Law of Cycles this.”

 

Kyouko didn’t respond. 

 

[]

 

Her vision was blurry. A sudden headache had overwhelmed the pink ex-goddess earlier. When she opened her eyes, she saw the barrier had broken apart and the familiars that had surrounded her were now all gone. There was not a trace of them left. 

 

Madoka’s family was still fast-asleep on the strangely-intact sofa, their breathing nearly still. 

 

The pinkette reminisced about a memory long since-passed. Or did it happen not too long ago? Madoka couldn’t really remember anymore. It was a jumble of memories that happened and hadn’t happened and couldn’t have happened. 

 

A few days after the Kaname girl first transferred into Mitakihara Middle School after a long three years in America, she was placed in the same P.E. class as the infamous Homura Akemi. When Madoka had just barely managed to score twenty-five pushups, Homura had already done triple that. 

 

When she struggled to do even a single situp, Homura had done one hundred in the blink of an eye. 

 

After the final lap around the courtyard, Madoka panted like a dehydrated dog, clearly out-of-breath and panickingly searched for water. A few moments after the pinkette greedily gulped down the deliciously-refreshing cold water, her eyes wandered to a sweating Homura Akemi. The ravenette diligently wiped the sweat off of her neck and forehead with a cloth, without a single hint of exhaustion. 

 

Madoka felt like Homura had the physical stamina of a marathon-runner.  _ Is she secretly a superhero?!  _ She squealed. 

 

But every time lavender eyes would lock onto pink, Madoka felt a twinge of sadness tug at her heartstrings. 

 

It must’ve been because of all this. Lots of questions rushed through her mind. 

 

Could this have been avoided if she paid a bit more attention to her raven-haired friend?

 

Could she have found a better ending for everyone?

 

Was what Madoka wished for  _ wrong _ ?

 

“I remember...Homura-chan. I remember all of it,” She whispered, as she locked her fingers through the brownish hair of her sleeping little brother, Tatsuya. A bittersweet smile formed on her lips as she giggled looking at Tatsuya’s goofy face. 

 

Madoka focused her light crimson eyes in the air, summoning whatever kind of strength she could. For a moment, the air crackled and her eyes formed into a holy golden, and her hair started to float against gravity. But the power slipped through her fingers again. 

 

It was like trying to catch a high-speed water current. It’ll just slip right through your fingers. 

 

She blinked. 

 

A massive figure hovered above her, one clad in a strange knight armor with a massive sword and a mermaid tail. It waved at her happily. 

 

“Sayaka-chan!” She nearly screamed, “Please, get my family out of here!”

 

Oktavia hesitated, but it knelt down to its goddess. “Alright…” A distorted voice answered, “Let’s get you and your family to safety. I know a place.”

 

“Thank you, Sayaka-chan.”

 

[]

 

_ “I need some time alone,”  _ Kyouko whispered. Avoiding eye contact with her former mentor, Kyouko dashed outside Mami’s barrier. She couldn’t even look at Nagisa, much less Yuma.

 

They blinked at her with worried expressions. The redhead hated that look more than anything in the world. She hated being pitied. Kyouko was strong. She wasn’t weak. There was no pitying the strong.

 

It was childish, unfathomable, and brittle logic.

 

The spear-user found herself on top of a collapsed building, crouching as she watched the chaos below her. An all-too serious frown burrowed itself into Kyouko’s cheeks. 

 

She watched as the familiars fought the witches. She watched as other magical girls battled against the forces of darkness. She watched as the magical girls were forced to kill each other when they learned they transformed into witches.

 

Kyouko took a bite out of an apple. She winced. It tasted utterly horrifying, yet she gulped it down. Forcefully.  _ Don’t waste food,  _ She thought,  _ Don’t you dare fucking waste food. _

 

The fanged girl once thought of herself as a hero. It felt like the right thing to do, for her to kill off witches and familiars and save the day. She was doing something that came out of a comic book!

 

That was until the fire. 

 

“Kh-” She gulped and pushed and drowned those memories to the back of her mind a long looooong time ago.  _ So why _ , Kyouko winced,  _ Why am I remembering now of all times?! _

 

She wanted to scream. She wanted to howl. She just wanted to hit something! Anything! 

 

Kyouko had always thought of Homura as someone who never judged her. Someone who couldn’t give a damn what Kyouko did or what Kyouko thought. She felt like an equal - she felt respected when she was around the ravenette. 

 

And when Homura promised to revive her family...She jumped at the chance to switch sides. 

 

Even now, after all Homura had done, Kyouko couldn’t help but selfishly wonder,  _ Would she still bring back my family if I continue to help her? _

 

_ No. Not anymore…  _ Kyouko figured, as she watched Armageddon unfold itself before her.

 

The delinquent knew there was something wrong with Homura, but she never bothered to really ask. She always thought it was one of the raven-haired girl’s weird ‘quirks’. To think there was such a darkness hidden underneath that cold exterior. 

 

A fang popped out of her mouth as she placed a single pocky in her mouth with a bemused expression plastered on her face. She knew she had to help those below her. She knew she had to join in the fight.

 

But Kyouko just didn’t want to fight Homura.

 

Mami, Sayaka, Nagisa, and even Yuma would speak about ‘taking down The Demon’ but Kyouko didn’t think of it that way. It was as though they forgot Homura was once one of them - a magical girl. 

 

Kyouko doesn’t know when it happened, but she can vaguely remember a time when Homura was once a magical girl. She had this lavender-purple bow that fired bright projectiles that mowed down Wraiths. 

 

Homura’s complexity was beautiful. Everything about her demanded power and respect. 

 

But this…. _ Heh. I guess the saying ‘The bigger they are, the harder they fall’ is true,  _ She laughed dryly. 

 

Heavy boots finally lifted themselves off the broken plastered glass windows. Kyouko’s weary eyes gazed across the horizon, and grew wide as she saw something extraordinary. 

 

Two massive powers battled one another in flashes of light. One was of a holy azure blue - bright enough to burn the redhead’s retinas. The other was of a dark fuschia, clouded in dark shadows as it threatened to consume the light. 

 

“Huh?” Without even realizing it, Kyouko was already dashing towards the source of the two powers. Spear in hand, she mowed down the familiars that got in her way, simply treating them like weak obstacles that the redhead could swat with a single hand. “Heh,” she laughed, “Guess there’s no turning back!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little late, but here you go, a new mini-arc. 
> 
> The Salvation Arc chapter will be the next. 
> 
> Also, upcoming Pilgrimage chapter! Look forward to it.


	33. Chapter 31: Armageddon X: Salvation III

Several things happened at once, most notably the fact that the image of Madoka Kaname flickered in front of Homura, eventually fading from view. Homura stood in a moment of stunned silence, with the other students in the class staring and whispering.

_Am I finally going crazy?_

 

Something inside her snapped, and she set her face back into her delicately constructed mask of indifference. Throwing one last glare at the people around her, she turned, flipping her hair and stalked out of the room. She did not get far into the hallway before running into Sayaka, who had worry plastered on her face.

 

That face… That face… The face of the one who _always_ ruined her plans, timeline after timeline. An irrefutable anger surged within her chest, but Homura knocked herself out of that wrathful stupor. The blunette was an ally this time around. Homura mentally chastised herself, and twisted her face into what she hoped as a friendly expression. Sayaka took a step forward.

 

“Homura?” she asks, eyes uncertain. “Are you alright?”

 

Homura could see that Sayaka was making an attempt to hide her...disgust? fear?... of the red eyes she faced. Again, the time traveler attempted to hide her inner turmoil.

 

“I’m fine, Miki-san. Just a little tired is all,” she lied.

 

She’s not fine. A world where Madoka doesn’t exist? She felt sickened to the core. She had no business here if Madoka didn’t exist in this world. This was not where she belonged. Stepping around the blue knight, she continued at a brisk pace, vaguely aware of the girl calling after her.

 

“Oy, Homura, where are you going? School’s not out yet,” she said, running after Homura. “Oy!”

 

The raven-haired stoic felt a hand grab her wrist. Anger flared, and she whipped her head around. Sayaka took a step back uncertainly.

 

“Let. Me. Go.”

 

The words contained as much venom as the time traveler could manage to fit in. She let go. Homura continued walking back home, ignoring the stares that people gave her. Her mind was a whirlwind of activity, thoughts and plans swirling in a torrent.

 

_‘If Madoka isn't here, then that's unfortunate. I'll have to wait until Walpurgisnacht to reset the timeline again. In the meantime, I'll focus on gathering more weapons.’_

 

Her inner voice sounded confident, resolute. However, a tiny part of her mind was ringing alarm bells. Why _didn't_ Madoka exist? Why did she start hallucinating? There’ve been timelines where Madoka dies before she arrives, but a timeline where she just straight up doesn't exist? A timeline where not even Sayaka Miki has any recollection of such a name? A timeline where Homura’s sanity is called into question? Something wasn't right. Not with this timeline.

 

She could feel it, but she could not pinpoint it. The streets were teeming with activity, countless adults going about their business. Some of them spared Homura some curious glances, no doubt wondering why she was not in class. The street was unfamiliar. She had taken a wrong turn somewhere.

 

She made to turn back, but at that moment, she collapsed. The world turned dark for her. The grit of the asphalt rubbed against her face as she planted her palms, attempting to get up. A dull throbbing could be felt in her chest. It slowly got faster and sharper. Something welled up in her mouth, tasting of copper. She spat out of mouthful of blood, feebly clutching her chest. A hand placed itself on her shoulder, shaking her lightly. She looked up through the darkened vision and found the golden orbs of Mami staring her in the eyes.

 

The world faded to black, and the last thing Homura felt was her eyelids closing over her dark red eyes.

[]

_The silhouette of Kriemhild Gretchen towered over Mitakihara. Or more accurately, what was left of it. A heavy pressure was in the air, one that made Walpurgisnacht seem like a child’s toy. Dozens of kilometers away, the incoherent screech of the witch could be heard by magical girls and normal humans alike. Within the city which it had yet to begin consuming, three figures lay on the rubble, while a third one knelt by the one of the bodies. Shards of yellow, red, and blue glass could be seen scattered around the area, glittering in what sunlight made it past the clouds._

_A hand brushed the crimson-red hair off the face of one of the bodies. Time seemed to slow as a single teardrop landed on the easily-recognizable green hoodie which Kyouko Sakura always wore. Homura drops to her knees, focusing on the redhead and ignoring the other two fallen magical girls. Why she always chose to mourn Kyouko as opposed to Mami or Sayaka was beyond her. She turned her gaze from the body towards the massive witch threatening the city._

_“You must have known this would happen, Homura Akemi.”_

_Homura gritted her teeth. Kyubey._

_“At this rate, the world will be-”_

_“Destroyed in ten days. I know. Get out of my sight,” Homura cuts him off. Whether or not he intended to comply was not Homura’s concern as a blast of purple light hit the incubator, killing him instantly._

_Violet eyes turn back to Kyouko. She takes the hairpin out, before gently lowering her back onto the ground. Time to turn back. The next attempt would be the one. As she gets ready to turn her shield, Homura looks back one more time._

_“Kyouko.”_

[]

Mami and Sayaka watched as their fellow magical girl thrashed in her sleep, obviously struggling with a demon from the past. After Homura had abruptly left the school, Mami tailed her with the worry that she might do something reckless in mind. By the time she caught up with the black-haired girl, she was on her hands and knees spitting blood onto the pavement. The following hours passed in a blur as the red and blue lights of an ambulance flashed through the street.

 

“Kyou...ko..”

 

That single name escaped the unconscious Homura’s lips, eliciting two different reactions from the two occupants in the hospital room. Confusion in Sayaka and surprise in Mami. Red eyes fluttered open, blinking once, blinking twice, before widening. Homura sat up violently, only to be sent crashing back down as a sharp pain pierced through her chest. The ambient beeping of the monitor which the magical girls had ignored suddenly began repeating faster. For Homura, it felt like someone was striking her chest with an ice pick.

 

The door flew open, and white-clad figures flowed into the room like a wave, sweeping the two visitors out of the room while they fussed over Homura, forcing her to lay still. As they were forced into the hallway, Sayaka shoved back as much as she could indignantly. At least, until Mami reined her in and stopped her from outright punching the nurses, leaving Homura alone in a room full of people she couldn’t care less about. She wanted to be somewhere, anywhere, just away from the hospital. She was sick of hospitals, of seeing the bland white ceiling of a hospital. If not because of the monotony of her early life, then because that ceiling meant one thing: failure. Failure to save Madoka. Failure to defeat Walpurgis. A prick came at her arm, and her vision began to go dark again. A last glance at the clock indicated that it had been eight hours since she left the school.

[]

_“I’m sorry to inform you that your daughter won’t survive for much longer. We’ve done our best and we can try to keep the heart condition as painless as possible, but a remedy is… Well, there aren’t any known at this time.”_

_Those words echoed through Homura’s ears as she sat in the hospital room, listening to the doctor speak to her parents. The doctor walked away, leaving her parents in the hallway. She could hear them talking to each other, but did not know what they were saying. Finally, they entered the room. Homura stared at them as her mother speaks._

_“Homura, how are you feeling?”_

_She blinks, but does not answer._

_“We’ve decided. The hospital is going to transfer you to Mitakihara. Your father and I can’t stay, unfortunately. We’re too busy with work. But we’ll get you a house there, and do the paperwork for school.”_

_At the time, her parents hadn’t realized that Homura had heard everything the doctor had told them. When she met Madoka for the first time, her parents had already stopped checking on her. Or perhaps she was the one who stopped responding first. She couldn’t remember, but as she travelled back and repeated that month over and over again, the memories of her parents faded. Soon, she even forgot their faces._

[]

When she wakes, a mild discomfort on her cheeks tells her she has been crying. Wiping the dried tear tracks away, she sits up, more carefully this time. Mami is sleeping in a chair in the room. It was nighttime, and the clock read 3 AM. It has been twelve hours since she left the school. The room was dark, just like the sky outside. Homura touches her left cheek, seeking the reassurance that the web of red has not expanded onto her left cheek. It hadn’t, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

 

Mami woke with a start, her golden irises appearing to glow in the unlit room. She gets up, stumbling in the darkness over to the bedside.

 

“Akemi-san? How are you feeling?”

 

Homura grimaces, recalling the phrase “How are you feeling?” which her mother had asked her a long time ago. Shaking the unwanted memories off, she responded to Mami.

 

“I’m fine, thank you.”

 

The blonde looked unconvinced, causing the time traveller to sigh mentally. In truth, she had forgotten about her heart condition, seeing as how she had healed it with magic. Why it came back now was confusing to say the least, but even more disturbing was the fact that she couldn’t heal it again. She had tried immediately after waking up, but she felt no changes in her body like she had felt the first time.

 

“Akemi-san… How do you know Kyouko?”

 

Homura visibly stiffened, and Mami inwardly wondered if she overstepped her boundary, but relaxed a little once Homura loosened up a little as well.

 

“I’m sorry, I do not feel like talking about it.”

 

The blonde veteran toyed with the idea of pushing the issue, either of Kyouko or of Homura collapsing from a condition that shouldn’t be possible by virtue of being magical girls. The latter won out, and she asked. The only response given was the exact same as the Kyouko issue. Homura made sure to remain closed-off from Sayaka Miki and Mami Tomoe, even as she acted friendly around them in this timeline. She could _not_ let those two find out anything about her. Not that it mattered this time, seeing as how Madoka was not here, but she kept it in mind for the next timeline.

 

After a while spent in silence with only occasional spurts of idle conversation, Mami left, telling her that the doctor said she’d be staying in the hospital for at least a few days and promising to visit with Sayaka tomorrow after school. The stoic girl now sat alone in the darkness.

 

4:30 AM.

4:31 AM.

4:32 AM.

 

Time slowly dragged by. Each minute, every second, was agonizingly long. Homura sorted through all her memories, but always came back to one point. The timeline directly before this one. She had no recollection of it. As she tried her best to recall something, anything, the hospital sat undisturbed. Only occasionally would her heart begin to beat irregularly, but it would subside each time, leaving her to continue working with her memory. No amount of prying would bring those memories back, however.

 

Because unbeknownst to her, those memories didn’t exist.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Editor Notes:
> 
> The Salvation mini-arc is written by WinterCactus and edited by the main writer, Titan0fPower (me!). 
> 
> Hope you enjoy it.


	34. Chapter 32: Armageddon XI: Independence II

Fuschia-red eyes wandered off beyond the horizon, unblocked by the silhouette’s near-bird’s eye view. A serious expression, tinted with a hint of worry, plastered itself on the winged creature’s face. Her attention was held beyond the countless carcasses beneath her feet, beyond the broken statues and skyscrapers, and beyond the towering witch that threatened to consume the already-ruined possessed universe.

 

Her beautiful features were tattered in dust, sweat, and blood. Flames had consumed the entire country, painted with littered corpses. The sky was covered in the witch’s shadow. 

 

Homura Akemi had become the devil in the truest sense of the word. The Demon smiled sardonically as she noticed the influx of power. Madoka escaped from the utopian labyrinth she placed her in. 

 

An annoyingly-righteous voice dragged her back to reality. “I never thought you’d be capable of all of this, transfer student,” Sayaka refused to call her by name anymore. She didn’t look at the demonized Homura Akemi as a human being anymore. No, she was simply another monster Sayaka had to take down.

 

The Demon started to clap her hands, her sardonic smile growing with each passing second, “You learn something new everyday. It’s good to learn. It expands your mental growth, Miki-san, something you lack in.”

 

“Tsk!” The bluenette clicked her tongue, annoyed. She looked down at her sword. The sword that was once sizzling with a holy element started to wither, as the blue aura around her dulled.  _ Not good. _

 

“Running out of steam so soon?” The Demon stretched her arms and wiped away some blood off of her cheek. It wasn’t her blood but Sayaka’s. “You’ve fought valiantly, so bravo,” The winged creature kept a facade of strength, but when she stepped forward, her body twitched ever-so-slightly in pain. This did not go unnoticed by the knight.

 

“Looks like you’re in the same boat, transfer student,” Sayaka spoke more confidently, “I bet I can still kick your ass!”

 

“What foul language,” Akemi said, in mocking disgust, “I truly worry about the way your parents raised you.”

 

“Like you can talk,” Sayaka snarled. It struck a nerve to the eldritch creature.

 

In an instant, Sayaka’s opponent struck her foot into her gut, too fast for the knight to react. She hurled backwards, losing her momentum. She had nearly lost all of her divine empowerment. 

 

“B-bitch….”

 

“Your borrowed power was on a time limit. Mine, however, isn’t.”

 

She jumped straight down, her face near Sayaka’s neck. The knight didn’t feel anything from The Demon, not even her breath. That was evidence enough that the one who stood before her no longer had any semblance of humanity.

 

“Goodby-” A massive blade protruded out of her chest. Massive amounts of shadowed energy escaped from the wound, released into the atmosphere. “This is probably the twelfth time I’ve been interrupted!” She screamed angrily.

 

The culprit was a familiar redhead. She was furious. “Huh, Kyouko Sakura. What brings you here today?” She said nonchalantly, ignoring the massive blade in her chest. 

 

“My God that’s creepy,” Kyouko snarled, “Seriously, to think I actually bought your stupid ‘family resurrection’ bullshit.”

 

The Demon tilted her head, confused. “But I didn’t lie about that?”

 

“And I would’ve accepted if you hadn’t gone around fucking slaughtering everybody!!!” Kyouko screamed, her tone seethed in anger, “You didn’t have to do all this shit!”

 

Akemi tilted her head even further, really not understanding Kyouko’s words, “But it was the human me that released the Witch. I wanted to avoid it.”

 

“Yet you started to much on magical girls and sent out your familiars to kill any on sight!”

 

“Well, I can’t deny that.”

 

Kyouko immediately wrapped the chains around Akemi’s body, and forcefully pulled her backwards. The Demon shrugged. “I grow weary of this, Kyouko Sakura.”

 

“I am just  _ done  _ already,” Kyouko replied.

 

“It’s never me is it?” Akemi whispered, nearly inaudible to her enemies. They looked at her, confused at her question. She shrugged, and spread her arms out far and wide. Flames of madness burned blindingly on cue. With a semblance of anger, The Demon wrapped her hand around Kyouko’s spear, aggressively destroying its structure with magic. Kyouko jumped back, alarmed, before summoning another spear.

 

Preparing for an attack, Kyouko and Sayaka surrounded the eldritch deity, but Akemi stood as still as a statue. She smiled.

 

“I know I have erred,” The raven-haired creature spoke softly, “I know my methods will only serve to create more suffering,” She knew she was in the wrong. She knew what she did was wrong. Everything, from her actions, to her words, to her breath, to her hair, to her eyes, to her lips, to her face, to her skin and down to her very bones was an existence known as ‘wrong’.

 

“I know Madoka will despise me for it. I know she will cry. I know she will shed tears not of sadness, but of pure rage,” She breathed in solemnly, as though accepting the inevitable, “Which is why, Sayaka Miki,” The Demon turned her attention to the blue-haired girl, who twitched at being singled out, “Which is why, Sayaka Miki,” She repeated.

 

_ “I hate you.” _

 

Akemi said it so calmly, so peacefully, that it just felt wrong.

 

“Way before Madoka even became a part of that wretched Law of Cycles, I was constantly by her side. Always protecting her, even if I had to drown myself in irredeemable sin. However, you, with ugly envy, always cursed her, shut her out, and made her cry. Yet, she chose you. She chose you as her first.”

 

“...”

 

“Did I do something wrong back then? Was it something I said? Did I need to try harder? Exhaust myself farther? Was it because I let her become a magical girl? Because I couldn’t keep my promise no matter how hard I tried? Did I not try hard enough? Or was it simply because…. I was not _ Sayaka Miki _ ?”

 

“Why?! Why are you so loved?!” She screamed, tears flowing out. “Why did she pick you over me?!!!!”

 

“H-Homur-”

 

“I am jealous of you!!! Why are you filled with her light?! Why was I forced to protect a world I could care less about?! Yet because she told me to, I did it to the best of my ability! I pushed myself harder than you ever did! While you were just content dying half-heartedly!”

 

The air crackled around her. Magic became warped and perverted. “I protected everything with this worthless life of mine! With this WORTHLESS life of MINE!”

 

“I wanted to protect everyone’s smiles! Where did I go wrong?! When did everything turn so strange and muddled?! Why? Why was I reduced to becoming a mindless pile of magic?!” 

 

“I’m not human anymore, and I’m certainly not a magical girl, a witch, or even a Goddess! I’m something that shouldn’t exist! That couldn’t exist! I pervert everything that’s right! Everything that you call justice!”

 

The magical girls stood shocked silent, surprised by her outburst. Sayaka extended her hand, but right before she spoke, Akemi screamed again. “I….hate myself!”

 

“It’s only fitting for me to be the Devil….” She was drunk on self-loathing. The Demon, no, Homura Akemi despised every part of herself. It’s why her parents abandoned her. It’s why  _ Madoka  _ abandoned her.

 

She suddenly stood quiet. Something hideous and dark whispered into her ear. The lizard earring twitched ever-so-slightly, quietly speaking into Akemi’s ear. “...I see…”

 

“ **_s’tI nugeb_ ** ….” It whispered.

 

“So my time is up, huh?” 

 

Kyouko looked over at the raven-haired fallen angel who had a solemn look on her face. It was brittle, and she felt that if she held the eldritch deity here and now, Akemi would shatter into a million pieces. She gulped. 

 

Akemi turned to the redhead and smiled bitterly. 

 

[]

 

A familiar pinkette gazed into the night sky, gazing into the abyss littered with glittering stars. Her golden eyes pierced through reality with a faraway look. Slowly, the night was ending, and a barrage of light cracked through the darkness. The mermaid-knight witch settled next to her, kneeling as if praying to a God.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have to apologize for the short chapter and longer waiting time. Nothing much happened this chapter, and quite honestly, it’s due to personal circumstances. 
> 
> Currently being evicted because my landlord wants to sell the house, and I’m almost out of time. So much competition for apartments and stuff that it’s just ridiculous, also I’m not exactly well-off either, so I’m royally screwed financially...And the landlord won’t spare me any more time. 
> 
> So once I get all that out of the way, I’ll be back in full speed with my writing. I promise.
> 
> Once again, I apologize for the short chapter and long waiting period. I promise I’ll make it worthwhile soon.
> 
> Happy Easter.


	35. Chapter 33: Armageddon XII: Salvation IV

**Armageddon XII**

**Salvation IV**

 

A soft purple glow filled the dark hospital room as Homura prodded at her memories with magic. It was something she couldn't quite explain, other than the idea that each string of memories was literally a string which she could pull, given enough magic usage. So she searched. Searched for the missing thread, the one belonging to the previous timeline. It was 5 AM, a scant half hour after Mami had left. Normally, Homura would have waited until she was in the privacy of her own home to use magic like this but she couldn't shake the feeling that something was horribly wrong. The entire world around her felt... _wrong._ It felt like a perversion of Mitakihara. A copy. A fake. As if someone had created a world to capture her and keep her there.

 

Why did that sound so familiar? A world...created to keep her there… Where had she heard that before. She reached out to a particularly dim strand of memory and pulled. Memories of a time she didn’t recognise played in her head.

[]

_Kyouko stood next to her, upon a twisted road. Dozens of figures surrounded them, each wearing a distorted mask resembling the two magical girls’ faces._

_“Make no mistake, this is a trap,” she said. Kyouko stared at her._

_“Got any idea what’s happening?”_

_“Yes. That’s why I don’t want you to do anything. Let me figure this out. As far as I can tell, whoever trapped is in here is playing with our perceptions so as long as we play along, we won’t be in any danger...for now.”_

_“It’s weird, Homura.”_

_“Hmmm?”_

_“I don’t remember you ever being as tough as you’re acting now, but it feels...right.”_

_She neglected to answer that, and Kyouko took that as her cue to leave the violet-eyed girl to her thoughts. Thoughts which, if voiced to her fellow magical girls, would surely alienate her from all of them except maybe Kyouko. She walks along the path, ignoring the figures around her as she thinks about what she and Kyouko had discovered trying to reach Kazamino. There was nothing beyond the city._

_‘Am I the only one who remembers? I have seen this kind of trap before. A self-contained illusion. A maze with no exit, where prey is lured and led astray. There's no doubt about it. This is a witch’s barrier._

_‘Witches; the ones who spread despair and disaster. It's the final form a magical girl takes when she gives in to despair. I remember how hard I fought to change a cruel destiny by repeating time over and over again. It all ended, finally, thanks to one girl, whose sacrifice broke the cycle of hope and despair. With that, the world should have been led to a new order of things. However... it seems we've all forgotten what happened. Or rather, we were made to. Someone is trying to replace our memories of what happened with false ones and trapped us here, in this false Mitakihara City…’_

[]

_A lightning-fast slash cut through the ribbons holding her hostage. She fell, and fell, and fell. Far from where she had fought Mami. Bits of ribbon flew down with her. About halfway down to the ground, a blue-clad figure catches her, landing gracefully on the ground afterward and putting the wounded girl down. A sigh fills the area._

_“Seriously, are you out of your mind? Fighting Mami while she’s at her peak?” Sayaka asks, exasperated._

_“I wasn’t expecting to have to fight Mami. I was after-”_

_“Bebe, right? Just because she was once a witch? Aren’t you jumping to conclusions rather quickly, transfer student?”_

_“You remember?”_

_“Of course I do. It’s my job to remember.”_

[]

_“Is this really so bad? We don’t have to kill anyone. We can just keep working together and have fun. Is a person who wished for this kind of life so bad that she has to die?” Sayaka asks, swinging her sabre around playfully._

_“H-hang on! Are you siding with the witch?”_

_“Well, they are what we magical girls become. It figures that I might sympathise with her.”_

_Homura found herself at a loss for words at that point, but quickly regained her composure._

_“...I just realised something. Something crucial in all of this. The creatures Mami remembers fighting are wraiths, not witches. Kyouko didn’t understand the concept of barriers when I explained it to her. This isn’t because they’d forgotten about witches. It’s because neither of them know about witches in the first place, which makes sense because witches don’t exist in this universe. That’s what_ she _sacrificed herself for.”_

[]

A soft knock came at the door to her hospital room before she had a chance to contemplate the memory she had just witnessed. A short internal debate occurred in her head about how to respond to the knock, if at all. Finally, Homura stood up onto the cold tile floor and padded her way to the door, peeking through the blinds. She was greeted with the familiar sight of Sayaka Miki, with her easily-recognisable shoulder-length blue hair. The blunette grinned and made a small wave as she opened the door.

 

“Sayaka Miki. Why are you here, at this time no less?”

 

“Couldn’t sleep. What about you?”

 

Homura steps aside, letting the blunette into the room before closing the door. As the two sat face to face, a small ray of moonlight shined on their faces, illuminating it just enough that they didn’t need to turn on the light. Sayaka turns her head to look at the purple gem resting on the bedside table. She sees something in it that Homura doesn’t, and it does not escape the time traveller’s notice.

 

“What?”

 

“What?” Sayaka echoes, still grinning.

 

“Why are you staring at my soul gem?”

 

“Mmmmm, nothing. It’s nothing, transfer student.”

 

The short conversation lapsed into silence again, as the two found nothing in common they could talk about. Yet, something bothered Homura. Why was Sayaka still grinning? She shook the concerns away, continuing to pluck at her memories with her magic. After about ten minutes, she came up with no further information which was helpful. Frustration was visible on her face, she was sure of it. Finally, she attempted to start another conversation with the other girl.

 

“Miki-san, why are you here? I can’t imagine you seeking me out of all people to talk to if you couldn’t sleep.”

 

Sayaka hums a little, irritating Homura. As the time traveller was about to express her anger, she speaks.

 

“I notice you’ve been messing around with your memories a lot. Would you like some help with that?”

 

“W-what?” Homura grimaced at the stutter.

 

“I know what you’re trying to do, transfer student. Perhaps you don’t have that memory with you right now, though. I told you before, _it’s my job to remember_ , regardless of when and where.”

 

“So… Have you figured it out yet?” Sayaka asks. Homura shakes her head, reluctantly deciding to ask.

 

“What is really going on? This isn’t real, is it?”

 

“Oh, it’s real. Well, you are, at least. But the Sayaka Miki and Mami Tomoe you’ve been interacting with certainly aren’t real, though they don’t know that.”

 

Sayaka stands, walking to the door. Before she leaves, she turns to say one last thing.

 

“Goodbye, Homura. I’ll see you on the outside.”

 

Then, she’s gone.

[]

Homura sits up violently. The window is open, allowing sunlight and a soft breeze to fill the room. A solitary bird could be heard chirping outside. She held a hand over her heart, attempting to slow down her pulse. Taking a moment to look around the room, she sees the two chairs where they were when she had talked with Sayaka last night. A different Sayaka? The same one? The real one? Her mind felt fuzzy and she had trouble not feeling confused. A glance at the clock told her it was slightly past noon. What was she supposed to do? Normally, if she had been in a hospital she would just walk out. But those times, Madoka had existed. The pinkette wasn’t here this time, so Homura stayed put. The memories she had been pulling at with her magic still swam around her head, and she began trying to piece them together. After about an hour, the doctor came in and started spouting some medical information Homura couldn’t care less about. She pretended to listen, nodding her head occasionally.

 

At some point, the doctor left, leaving some papers on the bedside table. The time was 4 PM when Mami and Sayaka entered the room. Homura halfheartedly greeted them, but spent most of her focus on piecing together everything she had learned the night before. Where had she been in a fake Mitakihara before? Did that have anything to do with her not having any memory of the previous timeline? Was that really Sayaka Miki who she had talked to last night, or was that something else. One thing stood out to her, however. Madoka didn’t exist. That should be right. That was the one thing that she should be certain of. Madoka did not exist. Just as it had been when the universe had been rewritten. But if Madoka didn’t exist, neither should witches, yet there were witches in this world. Her eyes widened.

 

“I figured it out,” she whispered, catching the attention of the two other magical girls in the room.

 

“I beg your pardon, Akemi-san?” Mami asked, confused.

 

“Tomoe-san, you’re absolutely certain we fight witches? Not wraiths?”

 

“Yes, but-”

 

A flash of purple light cut the blonde veteran off. When the light subsided, Homura held one hand on her shield and attempted to spin it. Nothing happened. In a weird sense of déjà vu, a sabre was jammed inside the gears of the shield. Sayaka Miki hadn’t moved. She still sat, stunned, where she had been the entire time. Mami was standing up, hand placed on her soul gem. What really caught the eye of everyone in the room, however, was a second Sayaka Miki standing across from Homura.

 

“Always quick to run, aren’t you, transfer student? Just calm down and think it over. The answer isn’t simple, but aren’t you supposed to be the smart one in the group? I know you have the pieces. It’s just a matter of putting them together,” the Sayaka copy said, smirking as she removed the sabre. Something felt off about the second Sayaka. It didn’t feel like the one she had talked to last night. She felt darker, more sinister. Yet, not malevolent. Homura sat, mind spinning. She had the pieces?

 

“Wa-wait. Hang on a moment! Who are you? Why do you look like me?”

 

Sayaka had finally regained her senses, and confronted her twisted doppelganger. The double simply smirked but offered no response. Then, the final piece fell into place. A single statement made by a voice that was all too familiar, but simultaneously alien. A single phrase which is at the same time her memory and not her memory. A single phrase by Kriemhild Gretchen, before a claw engulfed her body and sent her to where she was now.

 

“Kriemhild Gretchen…” Homura said, enunciating every single syllable in horror as she realised what this meant. “We… are inside Kriemhild Gretchen’s barrier?”

 

 The Sayaka copy grinned coldly, seemingly lowering the temperature in the room by several degrees, then vanished but not before leaving one final message.

                                                                

“You. You are inside Kriemhild Gretchen’s barrier. Only you are real. And you are very much alone, Homura Akemi.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Editor Notes:
> 
> Salvation Arc written by WinterCactus! Take a look at his work if you ever get the chance! (on Fanfiction.net)
> 
> Sorry for the hiatus, but I still haven’t figured out my whole housing situation. Another chapter of the Salvation arc should be coming up soon though.


	36. Chapter 34: Armageddon XIII: Awakening

Her surreal golden eyes pierced through the curtain of night. Almost, she was almost there. Turning her godly irises to a mermaid subject kneeling to her, the pink-haired incomplete Goddess smiled.

 

Madoka’s short pink-hair floated as if on water, carried by some form of incomprehensible magic. The air around her purified, released from the chains of darkness. Gazing up into the sky, she watched as her corrupted counterpart consumed life out of the Earth itself.

 

The flowers dried up, the soil cracked and hardened, and the air itself turned nasty and polluted. But against Madoka’s light, the destruction of the world screeched to a halt. The Goddess wasn’t yet able to bring life back to the lost, but she managed to stop the drowning of shadows.

 

Madoka placed herself on Oktavia’s overgrown shoulder, and flew towards the source of despair.

 

Seeing the face of her despair, Madoka gulped nervously. “So this...is my despair.” How destructive it was.

 

Gretchen’s single swirling eye of chaos met with Madoka’s golden pupils. It was as if time itself had stopped as the two gazed into each other’s incomplete souls.

 

The darkest Witch and the brightest Goddess.

  
A revelation suddenly hit the pink-haired girl. A droplet of sweat fell from her neck. Feeling a very familiar-yet-faint energy emanate from the colossal witch, Madoka’s fears were realized.

Homura Akemi was trapped inside Kriemhild Gretchen, seeing a false world filled with every possible nightmare imaginable. Just like in the Incubator’s Seal, Madoka failed to save her best friend.

“No,” She told herself, “I won’t fail again. This time, Homura-chan, I’ll save you.”

 

[]

 

The tension in the room was high, as Homura contemplated her next move. She had to get out somehow. Ignoring everything else, she stood and walked towards the door. Even if this was a fake Mitakihara within Kriemhild Gretchen’s barrier, she would have an easier time thinking in her own house. Wordlessly, she passed by Sayaka and Mami, but was stopped before leaving the room.

 

“Hold it right there! Who was that? What did she mean when she said only you are real?”

 

Mami was on her feet, and as with so many times before, Homura recognised the face of someone who was about to break down mentally.

 

“It was exactly what you heard,” Homura whispered, just loud enough for the other two to hear. “None of this is real. This is a barrier, and everything in here, including you two, are just constructs of the witch. Memories, or echoes if you prefer, of people the witch had known in life.”

 

Without waiting for a response, she left the room and walked to her house, mind racing. By the time she reached her front door, her eyes had begun throbbing again. The house was exactly as she had left it. The pendulum continued to swing, back and forth and back and forth. How would she escape? Would escape even be possible without defeating the witch? Homura steeled herself. There had to be a way out. She believed that even as Kriemhild Gretchen, there was a part of Madoka’s kindness that never went away.

 

“Madoka would leave me a way to get out...right?” she said to herself. “But where?”

 

Nothing added up for Homura. She had no recollection of what she was doing before being absorbed into the barrier, no clue as to what may have happened before Madoka turned. If she could just remember something, she could find where the way out would be. Leaving everything in the fake house, Homura stepped back out into the city. The city itself still looked as it always did, albeit tinted red because of her eyes. She crossed the bridge that she had crossed so many times, the bridge which Madoka followed her over so many times. So many times, after Mami Tomoe’s death, would Madoka follow her and say the same things over and over. At some point, she had stopped listening and simply repeated the same words. It was never anything different. Even though the sky was clear and blue in the barrier, to Homura it was red. She wondered if it was a side effect of being in a barrier.

 

‘Tinted red… Tinted red…’

 

That one thought echoed in the time traveler’s head repeatedly. Two sets of footsteps running could be heard from behind her. Homura knew who they were without even turning around.

 

“Mami Tomoe. Sayaka Miki. Why are you two following me?” she asks coldly, not stopping.

 

“E-even if we’re not real, even if we’re just memories, we’ll still act as our real selves would, right? We’ll help you get out.”

 

That one statement from the fake Sayaka Miki caused Homura to turn. She struggled for words.

 

“That is why I cannot trust either of you at this time. Your real selves would never trust me or offer me help. This is a barrier, and you both are just creations of the witch. You can be manipulated.”

 

“How else will you get out, then?” Sayaka challenged.

 

“I’ll figure it out. I always have. Kriemhild Gretchen is the witch of salvation. There will _always_ be a way to escape.”

 

“Your eyes then?”

 

Homura began walking away again without answering. Once she was sufficiently far away, she found it in herself to answer the question.

 

“That is irrelevant. Then again, maybe…”

 

‘Tinted red.. I have seen this kind of sky before. A sky so red it seems impossible by any natural means.’

 

Her steps became faster, more frantic. Her poise was shattered.

 

‘Was the answer here the entire time?’

 

She could hear mocking laughter in her head, but it was not a voice she recognized. Yet, there was familiarity to it.

 

‘Is this what she’s trying to tell me?’

 

The familiar sight came into view.

 

‘Is the answer to all of this…’

 

A figure, alien to the scene as she remembers it, is standing nearby.

 

“Kyouko Sakura,” Homura breathed.

 

There she was, standing against the red horizon, leaning on a tombstone. An ironically gentle malevolence was in the air. A gentleness that only Madoka could manage to put into such an unsettling feeling. The Kyouko which stood before her was not the Kyouko which Madoka would have remembered in life. It was a twisted version, something born of the memory of the person but twisted by the nature of a witch.

 

“Yo. Took you long enough,” Kyouko said, with the grin of a predator on her face. “You finally wake up yet? You know, I really thought you would have figured it out sooner, what with the eyes and all.”

 

“What do you know of my eyes?” Homura asked.

 

“Tell me, why do you think Walpurgisnacht has no barrier?”

 

“It doesn’t need one. What are you getting at?”

 

“Think about it then. Why would Madoka Kaname’s witch need one then, if Walpurgis is nothing but an ant in comparison? Isn’t it interesting? That your eyes changed while you were inside the only barrier that is smaller than the source witch?”

 

“You’re saying Mado- Kriemhild Gretchen did this to me?”

 

“Perhaps. You must know exactly how powerful she is. A barrier smaller than a witch can’t possibly contain all that power. Anyone who enters such a barrier would never get out unscathed, if at all.”

 

“...Enough of this. Tell me how to get out,” Homura demanded.

 

Kyouko, or the being which looked like her, laughed.

 

“That’s not for me to do. Looks like _she’s_ coming.”

 

Then, she was gone, leaving Homura in the same graveyard she had been in countless times talking to Kyubey after many of Kyouko’s deaths.

[]

She didn’t know how long she stood there. What was time to someone who had lost everything? Someone who now stood inside the domain of what she had sought to prevent? As if the life itself were mocking her, the barrier created replicas of people she knew. Mami Tomoe. Sayaka Miki. Kyouko Sakura. She had once trusted all of them and considered them friends. People she could rely on. That was seemingly in an entirely different lifetime.

 

Wind blew through the graveyard violently, so much so that Homura stumbled a bit before pushing back against the wind. It was a wind stronger than what Walpurgisnacht brought to Mitakihara in every iteration. As quickly as it came, however, the wind stopped. Where Kyouko Sakura’s image had been standing some time before stood a newcomer that was painfully familiar.

 

“Hello, Homura-chan,” Madoka greeted.

 

It was Madoka, yet it was not. Instead of the bright pink eyes that usually adorned her, it was pitch black. The naïve smile was missing, replaced with a neutral expression. Homura could hardly believe her eyes, extending one hand out and reaching towards the pinkette. Then, the walls came back up and she steeled her eyes.

 

“What are you? Another of the witch’s creations?”

 

Madoka giggles, and while the sight might have made Homura happy in the past, a sense of fear fills the normally-stoic veteran instead.

 

“I’m as real as you remember, even if I’m not really in control anymore. Well, are you ready to wake up? Sayaka-chan and Kyouko-chan and the others are waiting outside.”

 

“What do you mean? I still don’t remember what I was doing before I ended up in here.”

 

Madoka reached out with one arm, pressing a finger against Homura’s forehead. A burst of several different memories filled her head.

[]

_“I’m here to talk.”_

A scene lay before Homura’s eyes as if she were a bystander, even as she knew this was her own memory.

 

_“Talk? Really? Well, go on. I’m waiting.”_

She watched as she attempted to convince her demonized self to turn back, appealing to their mutual goal of Madoka.

 

_“We can still apologize to Madoka,” she said. A wicked grin contorted onto the face of her counterpart. A single, tiny droplet of blood escaped the human Homura’s mouth._

_“Apologize? Now why would I do that?”_

_As the demon spoke, she collapsed onto the charred earth beneath them, blood now spurting out of her mouth._

The scene was ugly at best. Downright terrifying at worst. She watched as a hole was contorted into her chest, as Sayaka Miki, the _real_ Sayaka Miki led an attack on her other self. She watched the towering form of Kriemhild Gretchen swat all the magical girls away, and sent even the demon flying. The last thing she saw was a massive hand stretch out from the witch to drag her lifeless body into the witch and presumably, into the barrier she was in now.

[]

The images faded from her view, as the figure of Madoka and the graveyard reappeared. Madoka smiled, perhaps warmly, perhaps not. Homura wasn’t sure which.

 

“Something like that,” the pink-haired girl said.

 

Homura held back a grimace, and her bile. The carnage that had been the short fight between the ambushing magical girls and the demon replayed itself in her head.

 

“There’s still a real me out there somewhere you know.”

 

“I know,” Homura said.

 

“You have to go back eventually. You can’t stay in here forever. Or even much longer.”

 

“I know.”

 

“Are you ready, Homura-chan?”

 

Homura allowed herself a grim smile.

 

“Do I have a choice?”

 

“Hmmmmm,” Madoka thought out loud. “Not really. As long as you’re in here, your eyes will worsen, and so will your returning heart condition.”

 

“It’s not pretty out there, is it?”

 

“No. It’s not.”

 

“Do you think anything will ever go back to the way it used to be?”

 

“Who knows, Homura-chan. Who knows. I hope so, and I hope you do too.”

 

She waves her hand, and a strange tunnel appears. Patterns akin to those which appeared during her time travel adorned the walls of the passageway, giving her a strange sense of familiarity as she left the red sky of the graveyard behind and passed through to the outside.

 

As one last thought, she wondered if that was truly Madoka’s consciousness she had been speaking to.

[]

Her eyes opened slowly. A quick, cursory glance at her shield confirmed that her eyes still held the same red irises from what had felt like a dream, but her vision was no longer tinted red.

 

The smell of blood and smoke filled the air. Piles of rubble stacked up high, mostly grey stone. The sky was equally as grey. A black tower was right beside her. Or rather, it was the Witch of Salvation, Kriemhild Gretchen. By some miracle, the “salvation” part of the title worked out for Homura. She scrambled to her feet and ran towards a column of smoke and fire in the distance, not willing to try her luck any longer with the behemoth.

 

However, the sneer of the apocalypse was exorcised by one bright and wonderful person who stood in front of Homura Akemi. She smiled, and stretched out her hand.

 

[]

“Homura! Stop!” Sayaka screamed to the top of her lungs. She unsheathed her sword and lunged toward the Demon, who held a dying Kyouko in her hands, crushing her neck.

 

Sayaka lunged at Akemi and swung wide, cutting through the air itself. The Demon raised her hand, and blocked the strike.

 

She continued to crush Kyouko’s neck. “G-gah..H-Homu…ra…” Drool dripped from the redhead’s lips as she struggled to breathe.

 

“There’s no going back for me, Sayaka Miki and Kyouko Sakura. I’ve gone too far. So, I’m going to finish what I started. Half-baked feelings will only insult Madoka even further.”

 

“That’s hubris!” Sayaka screamed, “If you stop now, there might be a chance to-“

 

The Demon shook her head silently and smiled. She loosened her grip on Kyouko, and let her fall on the broken puddle-riddled concrete. The redhead gasped for air, massaging her neck as she pushed herself to her feet.

 

“No,” The Demon answered. “There’s no other way but this. There is only this for me. I failed to save Madoka. I failed to protect Madoka,” Staring directly into Sayaka’s eyes, Akemi’s own magenta-red pupils glowed in an unholy light. “Do you know how many times I’ve watched her die?”

 

Sayaka’s jaw dropped. Her pupils enlarged as she stared at the raven-haired deity. “Dozens, hundreds of times. Therefore, I’m not even sure if I can call myself _Homura Akemi_. I’m just some empowered witch built in the image of Homura Akemi. Not even Madoka’s witch recognizes me as Homura Akemi now.”

 

“As I said before, Sayaka Miki. Stopping with half-baked feelings will only insult Madoka further.”

 

Kyouko coughed loudly, catching the attention of both parties. She kept massaging her throat, wincing as she struggled to get her voice back. When she spoke, a crackled, broken voice escaped her throat.

 

“T-That’s…Homura…look around you. This has gotta stop. I’m begging you here,” Red eyes turned to gaze at The Demon’s reddish violet orbs, uncaring as Kyouko struggled to get to her feet. “I won’t pretend to understand you. We’ve both lost those we’ve cared about, but my situation is different from yours. When I heard about your time travel magic, I was so _jealous_. I swear to God if I could’ve stolen it from you, I would. I’d do it over, until I got my family back. But to know the pain of being able to redo it over and over again without being able to change fate, I don’t understand that.”

 

The eldritch deity’s left eye twitched slightly.

 

“I won’t pretend to understand that. Which is why I won’t give you an inch of sympathy! I won’t let you off easily, you dumbass!!!”

 

A sharp pain struck The Demon’s left ear. Confused as to what happened, she clasped the left side of her face, noticing something. Her eyes widened. Her entire left ear was clipped off, sliced by Kyouko’s spear.

 

She clenched her teeth. Simmering hatred coursed through her veins. Then, in a matter entirely unlike her, The Demon screamed.

 

“KYOUKO SAKURA!!!!”

 

“Kyouko watch out!” Sayaka yelled, as she picked up her feet and ran to the redhead, reaching out to her.

 

The Demon descended with intense speed, her wings cutting through the air without a hint of mercy.

 

Inches away from the former priest girl, The Demon formed her hands into blades, and lunged forward.

 

At that moment, Kyouko died.

 

No, she was _supposed_ to.

 

Her arm was paralyzed through a set of yellow ribbons, wrapping around her two arms and encasing her in a prison, holding her steady.

 

A large white hammer-esque magical weapon shielded both the redhead and the blue knight from the dark-haired creature.

 

From the distance, a white-haired girl was ready to fire her trumpet at any time.

 

_Mami Tomoe. Yuma Chitose. Nagisa Momoe._

“I’m surprised. Didn’t think to see-“ Her mouth stopped working. Above her was a mermaid witch, and on her back, carried an all-too familiar pink-haired girl with golden irises. Next to her was a half-mutated Homura Akemi, clenching onto both a black bow and cracked shield.

 

And behind them was the ultimate form of despair, Kriemhild Gretchen, the Queen of Shadows.

 

_I’ve been checkmated._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Half of this was written by WinterCactus. It’s the last of the Salvation arc. Feel free to read some of his work!  
> Also, sorry for the long hiatus. I’m back in business! An extra long chapter for everyone!


	37. Chapter 35: Armageddon XIV: The End is Near

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To avoid confusion, when I refer to the name Akemi, it’s referring to The Demon. When I refer to Homura, I mean the magical girl Homura.

All the stars in the show have finally been reunited. Slowly, the mermaid witch carefully landed Madoka on the concrete – her tiny feet planting themselves on the ash-covered ground. Almost comedically, Oktavia dropped the half-witch Homura, almost angrily.

 

The Devil tilted her head inhumanely. She watched as Madoka’s golden eyes pierced her own violet-red orbs. The pinkette smiled solemnly over the dark incarnation of her best friend. The dark angel smiled back, waving quietly to her one and only friend.

 

“Homura-chan…” She said, lovingly. Her feet pitter-pattered to The Devil, each step full of anxiety.

 

The eldritch angel stood still. Her nerves didn’t budge an inch, but a drop of sweat betrayed her composed look. Two small hands reached out to her and grasped her cheeks. Madoka looked over her, lovingly.

 

She smiled bittersweetly.

 

“Homura-chan, I want to _save_ you.”

 

“Who cares about that,” The Demon countered immediately. “I just want you to be happy.” Her feathers pushed downward, lifting her feet above the ground, slowly separating from Madoka’s loving embrace.

 

“Homura-“

 

Everyone – apart from Madoka – readied their weapons, their gaze directly on the fallen angel. Sayaka spawned several swords around her, Kyouko created multiple illusions of herself, Mami surrounded the area with ribbons, Nagisa aimed her trumpet at the enemy, and Yuma held her hammer-like spear against her chest.

 

They were all nervous.

 

Kriemhild Gretchen watched as the deity hovered above the magical girls. Akemi had a ghostly smile.

 

And without warning, The Demon charged and flew straight inside Kriemhild’s shadowy form, allowing the Queen of Shadows to consume her.

 

They were all stunned as they watched Akemi’s suicidal stunt. The only reason the human Homura survived was because Kriemhild held warm feelings about her.

 

This imposter-like creature, how would she fair against a malicious maelstrom of darkness?

 

“We have to get her out of there!” Madoka screamed. The others stood paralyzed, until Madoka once again yelled out, “HURRY!!!”

 

[]

“AAAAGGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!” The storm inside Kriemhild shook and sealed The Demon in a never-ending spiral of wind. Tendrils of corrupted light pierced through her stomach. Forms of dark purple light seeped out of her wounds, almost like blood.

 

“GAAAHHHH!” She sprouted several malformed Clara Dolls from her back, and they moved to shield their master. They placed several shields in front of her, protecting her from both the tendril attacks and the deadly atmosphere.

 

Taking a deep breath, Akemi curled herself up in a fetal position and closed her eyes. She focused the energy deep within her as the Dark Orb hovered by her, slowly closing her wounds.

 

The deep energy within both her own body and the Dark Orb started to synchronize, cracking in violet lightning.

 

Immediately, the mutated Clara Dolls disappeared. Akemi stretched out her body and unleashed a barrage of lightning that spread like wildfire across the dark hurricane. A hew of violet-red started to taint the once-pure black.

 

She could faintly hear the cry of a drowning beast.

 

The Demon smiled.

[]

 

“W-what the hell?” Kyouko watched in disbelief as the Queen of Shadows was starting to shatter like glass.

 

“Everybody!” Madoka screamed, “Let’s get out of here! Quickly!”

 

Immediately, Sayaka spawned four Oktavias, and ordered them to carry the other magical girls to a safe distance.

 

As they flew through the air, Madoka started to relay her plan. “I don’t have my complete powers yet. I just need some time to break through Homura-cha-“The shield Homura turned when she heard her name. Correcting herself, Madoka coughed awkwardly, “I just need some time to make a small break through the other Homura-chan’s universal barrier, so that the other me and I can refuse. I need everyone’s help to buy time.”

 

“So where do we hold the fort?” Kyouko asked, a bit fidgety without her pocky.

 

“I’ll have to make my own barrier,” Madoka said bluntly. Immediately, Mami interjected.

 

“Wouldn’t that waste some of your magic already? How are you going to buy time if you spend it?” The blonde veteran asked, confused.

 

“Sometimes you gotta spend time to buy it,” Sayaka said. “Without the barrier, Homura-“ The shield Homura turned again, awkwardly. Sayaka coughed, “Err…Without the barrier, The Demon will find us much quicker. With the barrier, we can at least set up stronger traps. We might even get a magic boost within it.”

 

“That’s so smart!!!” Nagisa squealed out, but the blue-haired knight face-palmed.

 

“Nagisa…You should know this by now…”

 

“Ah…sorry.” The white-haired girl said apologetically.

 

“So uh…when Madoka-oneechan builds the barrier, what do each of us do?” Yuma asked, nervously.

 

Pridefully, Sayaka pointed directly at the weirdly-silent Homura, who simply gawked, confused. “We get the brains of the group to tell us what to do!”

 

“….What?”

 

[]

 

“ ** _GROAAAAAGH!!!!_** ” were Kriemhild Gretchen’s final screams, as she was consumed from the inside. Every piece of her moved inside The Demon like a massive tower of shadow forcefully being shoved into a tiny vessel.

 

There was a strange eerie silence after the Queen Witch was absorbed. The Demon descended gracefully. She felt a strange power surging through her.

 

Akemi grasped her own Dark Orb, and opened her mouth. Gulping it down, she became a literal being of pure energy.

 

She took a step forward and almost collapsed from an intense vertigo sensation that hit her from the pit of her stomach up to the dark corners of her brain.

 

It felt like she was about to explode.

 

“She’s still…alive?” She clearly felt the Queen Witch wriggle around in her stomach, warping her skin as it tried to escape. The Demon clearly saw a hand extend from the inside of her stomach, like a living human being trapped inside her, desperate to escape.

 

Strangely enough, it didn’t scare her.

 

Her eyes hovered over the area. The entire group was gone.

 

She couldn’t sense them. Then, a revelation occurred. “ _Ahhh_ ,” Akemi muttered, “They built a barrier. A Godly one.” The winged creature smiled.

 

Catching a glimpse of the white incubator, her hands grasped onto the little alien. “You’re going to help me, **_Incubator_**.”

 

[]

 

Homura spawned several automated machine-guns. It was a type of futuristic weapon devised by the government. It was a weapon she took great pains to steal.

 

She then managed to duplicate it by salvaging them all from different time loops.

 

“Are we almost ready?” Sayaka said, stretching out her arms as she swung her sword as practice.

 

“Yes, almost,” Homura said, robotically.

 

“Uh…hey, Homura?” Her awkward tone made Homura raise an eyebrow. She heard the bluenette stutter uncharacteristically. Normally she was so sure of everything.

 

“What is it, Miki-san?”

 

Scratching her head, Miki stuttered on what to say next. “S-so ya know? Uh, how we never really…uh…”

 

“Speak clearly, Miki-san. I don’t know what you’re trying to say if you whisper.”

 

“So…you see, sorry.” It was an apology. Homura stared blank-eyed. She didn’t know what the blue-haired girl was apologizing for. She never really understood her, or tried, really. “Sorry for being so thick-headed. I get that you had to do some really shady stuff back in your time loops, but thank you for protecting Madoka.”

 

The ravenette looked away, face a bit flustered. “No, I should be the one apologizing. After a certain amount of time, I stopped trying to look at other people, and focused solely on Madoka. To the point where I was ready to kill you. For that, I should apologize.”

 

They both looked away awkwardly.

 

In the distance, Kyouko jumped in an arc right in front of them, and noticed their weird behavior. “Stop blushing and get in position. Who knows when-“

 

An earth-shattering quake shook the barrier. Signs of crackling lightning could be seen slowly seeping into the false sky.

 

In the background, a drop of sweat dropped from Madoka’s temple.

 

A pair of massive hands started to pry open the ginormous doors leading to the outside world. Immediately, Homura aimed the automated turrets to the titanic hands.

 

Unsteadily, the titan-sized eldritch God peered from the outside, slowly but surely worming her way into the incomplete Deity-class barrier.

 

“Miki-san!” Homura yelled, “Go! Take Madoka further into the barrier!”

 

“Right!”

 

With her inhuman strength, Sayaka leapt toward the pinkette and picked her up like a princess. “Sayaka-chan! We can’t leav-“

 

“Leave it to us, pinky!” Kyouko said, readying her spear.

 

“Leave it to your senpai, Kaname-san,” Tomoe smiled.

“Trust us, Madoka-oneechan!” Nagisa yelled, holding her hands up in determination.

 

“R-right!” Yuma said, shyly.

 

Sayaka smiled as Madoka noticed their determination. “We’ll just have to trust them, won’t we?” She winked.

[]

“Kyouko, Tomoe-san, Nagisa, and Yuma…” The eldritch enemy acknowledged the four of them, and glared at her red-eyed counterpart, “And you.”

 

Without sparing any words, Homura pressed the remote control in the palm of her hand, and every turret placed in the vicinity started firing ferociously, covering The Demon in a mountain of metal.

 

As the sound of metal ricocheting died down, Kyouko charged forward, spear in hand, and summoned twenty of her own clones to attack. It was a feat she would never be able to do outside the barrier.

 

Mami raised her arms. On cue, countless yellow ribbons sprouted from beneath her. They wrapped around the black figure that emerged from the smoke, but were repelled by an air quake.

 

Shadows emerged from beneath the silhouette and intercepted the Kyouko illusions.

 

Another figure warped right in front of The Demon. Raising her right hand, a dozen red puppet strings formed into a broken scythe and slammed down on the winged creature.

 

The enemy blocked it with her left wing. Her wings looked frail, but were tougher and sharper than reinforced or stainless steel.

 

“I see, so you’ve nearly witchified,” Akemi smiled.

 

“Tsk,” Homura clicked her tongue.

 

The Demon extended her arm toward her more-human counterpart, but then she felt a bit light. Something was missing.

 

 _Ahhh…_ She thought to herself, _My arm’s gone._

She looked up to the culprit. Kyouko stood between them, spear in hand. There were wounds on her forehead and arms. Her attire had dozens of cuts on it, with blood slowly leaking from her wounds. Little by little, though, the redhead healed herself with magic.

 

The winged creature felt something gash at her shoulder. Glancing back, she saw a white hammer tear into her shoulder blade. “Mph!”

 

It was Yuma. She immediately jumped back before Akemi retaliated. No, they all did.

 

“Hmm?” Confused at the sudden retreat, the violet-eyed angel looked up and saw Nagisa aim her trumpet. She fired.

 

A massive magic bubble launched straight to Akemi. It was a direct hit. Akemi’s senses fell into chaos as the impact exploded.

 

The explosion sent her flying across the opposite direction and resulted in burns. “Gaaaaahhhh!!!!”

 

“Everybody! Retreat further into the barrier!” Homura commanded.

 

They all nodded, and delved deeper into Madoka’s castle-like barrier, with Homura being the last one to stay behind.

 

Before Kyouko left, though, she whispered something to Homura. “We’ll be waiting for ya.”

 

After Kyouko’s redhead figure disappeared, Homura chuckled. “How sly.”

 

“Gahh….” Akemi pushed herself up, her wings scorched from the blast. “I see…so this place strengthens your abilities to a stupid degree…and ironically weakens mine…” _If I hadn’t absorbed Kriemhild, would I have had worse injuries?_

Homura spawned another detonator from her broken shield. Akemi’s violet-red eyes widened. “You little…”

 

The witch-magical girl activated the detonator. Flames of fire erupted violently from the ground, engulfing them in a sea of flames.

 

Homura smiled one last time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally! Finals are over! I managed to wrap up all the loose ends that were stress-killing me.
> 
> So, I’m back. I feel like I rushed this chapter a lot, but to be honest the other chapters have sort of been at a standstill. 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed the chapter.


	38. Chapter 36: Armageddon XV: Two=One

The walls around the first level of the barrier started to fall apart and crack under its own weight. Flames engulfed both Sky and Earth.  A once-beautiful holy azure sky was now drowned in a sea of red and black. Screeches of inhuman origin drowned all other noise. “SQEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!”

 

It was piercing enough to bled someone’s ears out. The intensity of the screech was maddening. It felt like several hundred claws scratched the surface of a broken blackboard.

 

“G-guh….” Her smooth black hair frizzled comically, Homura pushed her arms on the already-dissipating floor. She glanced over to her shield. Just barely functional. “I-I survived?”

 

“SQREEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

 

“G-GAHHH!!” The screech felt like tiny little needle worms penetrating Homura’s brain. It was driving her insane. When she tried to cover her ears out of instinct, the magical girl felt drops of blood flowing out of her ears. “W-what the hell?!”

 

Her eyes drifted to the source of the crazy screams and saw a black silhouette contorting and twitching like a dying fish. Then, the silhouette noticed her and started to speak.

 

“MADOHOPELESSLYTENDECADESNOWORTHNONEXISTENTIADYINGPRETTYPINKBIRDIEDEADEDLIARLIARLIARLIARTHEYALLWORTHLESSDYINGALLTHETIMETIMETIMETIMETIMETIMEINCUBATORTIMEAGAINAGAINAGAINAGAINAGAINAGAINAGAINDYINGOVERANDOVERMADOKAADOKAMADOKAMAGO-MAGO-MADO-GAKAKAKAKAKAKAKAKAHOPELESSDESPAIRHOPEWATHLESS!!!!WORMIESDANCINGINMYBRAAAAAAIIIIINDEADIEDEDEADEDAEEADEAAAAAAAAD.”

 

The Demon’s face contorted, her eyes replaced by gouging red vessels that were ready to pop at any moment. Her once-enchanting skin color turned a sickly gray with black blood vessels dripping out of her skin, bleeding black blood.

 

Her wings were replaced by hideous centipede-like tendrils that moved erratically. They had a foul stench.

 

The raven-haired magical girl observed this monstrous doppelganger and clearly noticed something absolutely disturbing.

 

Her counterpart’s stomach would, at times, bloat as if something was wriggling inside her stomach. Sometimes, she’d see a hand stretch out from the innards of the twisted deity’s stomach, other times it’d be a full-fledged mummified face. Homura winced.

 

Homura’s vision burned in red as a drop of blood from her forehead slid into her eyes. She blinked and breathed slowly. Instinctively, she took a step back.

 

Immediately, The Demon froze as still as a statue. Homura reached into her shield and pulled out an RPG, crouched and aimed it directly at her opponent. Her hands were sweaty and her aim was unsteady. Quite frankly, she was afraid. She blinked.

 

The depraved angel disappeared.  

 

Feeling an intense weight lifted off her shoulders, Homura collapsed. “Gah…not even…Walpurgisnacht made me feel that way…”

 

Standing up, Homura flipped her hair and placed the RPG back into her shield. Shaking off her nerves, she decided to head to Madoka. “Hold on just a little longer…Madoka.”

 

[]

 

“That damn idiot!” Kyouko yelled, furious. A vein popped out of her forehead, indicating her mood. “Didn’t we tell her not to do anything stupid?!” The redhead tapped her feet, while Mami tried to mediate the mood, when Madoka shrieked.

 

“W-wow, what is it, Madoka?” Sayaka glanced at the owner of two golden eyes. Her hair started to float against gravity, and the air around her was distorting. But her surprise turned into shock and fear. Sayaka winced, noticing her friend’s reaction. “U-uh, what’s wrong? Did something happen to Homura?!”

 

“…She’s here.”

 

“…Her…huh?”

 

Madoka felt a dozen seals being torn down and destroyed, closing in faster and faster to her location, until suddenly, a crack in the false sky materialized. Beyond the crack was pure darkness. A shadow dropped from the crack in reality.

 

“LOVEDISGRACENEVERLETGOYOULIARIKNOWWWWLIESOLDERTHANILOOKLOSTINTIIMMEEEEEWHEEEEEREEEEDOOON’TTUUUURRRRRNOFFFFTHELIGHHHHHHTTSSSSMOOOOMMMYYYI’MMMLONEEELLYYYYYSUICIIIIIIIDEJUSSSSTDIIIIIEEEEEEABANDOMNENTWORTHLESSNESSPAAPPPAAAAALEEEEFFFFTMEEEEEEEEEWEaaaaKKKKKHEArTTTTTTTT!!!”

 

“What….the hell?” Nervous sweat dripped from Sayaka’s neck. Fear crept inside her. Nervously, she unsheathed her sword and stepped in front of Madoka, shielding her. “Look at what you’ve become. You’re nothing more than a monster now.”

 

“I-I’m scared!” Yuma broke out in tears. Nagisa held her close, easing her.

 

“Look, we have to do this…Yuma-chan. We need to. So please, look at me, Yuma-chan.” Nagisa slapped her hands onto Yuma’s cheeks, knocking the fear out of her, “We are magical girls! We never lose!”

 

“U-uhuh!” Yuma desperately tried to mimic the same amount of bravery.

 

Kyouko shook her head, looking away from the deity, while Mami glared fiercely without saying a word.

 

The demonized creature glanced at Madoka. Without a second’s notice, she charged headfirst to the pinkette, but Sayaka bridged the gap between them and swung her sword. “Oh no you don’t!” Sayaka screamed as she tried to swat the mutant away. It was like trying to push a fast-moving meteor out of the way.

 

The blue knight flew back like a ragdoll, landing on her ass when the female creature jumped on her, raising her claws and slashing at her relentlessly. “Shit!” She raised her blade, trying to block the monster’s slashes, but piece by piece, parts of her own flesh started to fly off. Her azure hair became frizzled and messy. She couldn’t keep up with the speed.

 

Then, The Demon froze. Dozens of yellow ribbons wrapped around the angel’s arms, pulling her back. In that instant, Sayaka spawned several swords, and in rapid succession stabbed her nemesis’ face and kicked her off.

 

Madoka clasped her hands together. “Just a little more…just a little more…”

 

Mami tried to pull the creature back, only to be dragged into a tug of war, one she was losing. Kyouko wrapped her hands around her senpai’s waist and put strength into her back. “Pull!”

 

Sayaka quickly backed up as she saw a white hammer being thrown like a boomerang. It hit straight at the eldritch angel’s head, stunning her, before a massive bubble spawned in front of her, exploding ferociously.

 

“SCREEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

 

“Oh GOD!” Everybody’s ears popped, and blood dripped from them.  Madoka winced in pain, but kept her eyes open.

 

The Demon’s claws extended toward the paralyzed quintet, her tendril-like wings wrapped themselves around Nagisa and Yuma, ensnaring them. “Gahh!!!” They screamed. Bit by bit, their lungs were being pushed out of their chests. Their ribcage started to break.

 

Immediately, without any thought, Kyouko jumped to the abomination, spawning dozens of illusions to attack. “GREAAAAAHHHHHHH~~~~~!!!!!!!!!!!” The monster screamed again.

 

The airquakes cut through the illusions, and her hand grabbed Kyouko’s temple, and smashed her onto the barrier’s rose-covered floor. Blood spilled out of the redhead’s mouth.

 

Mami summoned her Ultimate Tiro Finale, but in a flash, The Demon destroyed the giant tea-cup musket, and sent a foot into the blonde’s gut. Next thing the veteran knew, she was up in the air. The fall was harsh, and her body numbed from the intense vertigo.

 

The blue knight tightly grasped two blades firmly in her palms, and gulped. Her opponent’s raven-black hair ominously floated against gravity, her teeth grew into canines. She no longer had any vestige of humanity in her left.

 

“Catch.” A melancholic voice echoed through the barrier. Something clanked below the creature’s legs. She looked down and noticed a green canister. “Shut your eyes!” The magical girl yelled.

 

Sayaka shielded her eyes with her cape and Madoka covered her eyes with her hands. The blinding light slowly died down, and when Sayaka hesitantly opened her eyes, she noticed several automated turrets placed around The Demon. Consequently, the tendrils loosened their grip on Nagisa and Yuma, dropping them like ragdolls.

 

Homura pressed the red button on her palm.

 

A stampede of metal tore through The Demon’s skin. Covered in Madoka’s holy magic, each bullet burned. The Demon was about to scream, but Homura fired an RPG, incapacitating her.

 

“That’s enough, Homura-chan, Sayaka-chan. You can leave the rest to me.” A beautiful, tranquil and otherworldly voice reached their ears. A visage of white and pink overflowed the barrier. A long white dress stretched out in front of her demonized friend. “It’s okay, I’m here.”

 

Shaken, The Demon quietly stood up and gazed over the Law of Cycles. “Madoka.”

 

“Yes, it’s me.” She confirmed.

 

“Madoka,” Her feet sped up slightly to her.

 

Homura and Sayaka aimed their weapons at the creature, but Madoka raised her hand and shook her head silently. “Madoka,” the angel repeated.

 

“Yes.”

 

The raven-haired black deity known as Homura Akemi wrapped her arms around her friend. She hugged Madoka tightly, without any visage of letting go. “I’m here, Homura-chan. There’s no need to be afraid. I’ll always be with you.”

 

“…yes…” She whispered. “…always…” She slowly opened her hands, and her claws extended, slowly reaching into Madoka’s back with the intent of separating Madoka from the Law of Cycles again.

 

Until she felt something burning in her back. “GAAAAAHHH!!!” She fell back, her soul torn apart. A bright flash of light started to burn its way into her back, her dark bloody veins slowly emanating light.

 

“I’m so sorry,” Madoka apologized. “I’m so sorry.”

 

“GAAAHHHHH!!!!” Her dying screams would forever haunt Madoka’s nightmares. “NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!SAVEMEMADOKAAAAAMADOKAAAAAMADOKAAAAASAVEEEEEMEEEEE!!!!!!”

 

“I’m so sorry…”

 

The human Homura looked away in silence. Sayaka looked onwards, searing this memory into her brain, so that something like this would never happen again.

 

“GRAAAH!!!!HEARTDISEAAAAASEGEERRRRRMAAAAANWALPURGIAAAASNACHTABANDOOOONMEEEEENTMADOOOOKAAAA!!!”

 

“When you fused with my witch…You became vulnerable to me, since you aren’t just a partial witch anymore... I’m sorry…this was the only way I could think of…apart from…”

 

The Demon uncharacteristically looked away from Madoka and stared directly at her human counterpart. Still howling in pain, the creature threw her arms back.

 

Then, against her will, the raven-haired magical girl threw her arms back. “W-what the-“ She felt her feet float in the air. Looking at her crazy doppelganger, she noticed the same thing happening to her, like a twisted mirror. She knew what was going to happen. “No!-“

 

“No! Sayaka-chan, stop her!”

 

“Shit!” Sayaka pushed her legs as Madoka flew to stop them. Unfortunately, they were just a bit too late.

 

The human Homura met with the demon Homura, a dark cloud consuming them.

 

Fallen to her knees, a look of pure despair wormed its way on the Law of Cycles.

 

Homura Akemi was whole again.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was actually pretty fun to write. Though I have a feeling I rushed it and maybe even made it a little underwhelming, dunno.
> 
> Just a tip, you don’t have to read The Demon’s ramblings, but if you do, it adds some insight to her personal thoughts. Kinda like the Shaft Monogatari text scenes.
> 
> One more chapter before the grand finale(s). 
> 
> PS: Been watching too much Tokyo Ghoul…


	39. Chapter 37: Armageddon XVI: Umbra

_“Sayaka-chan! Stop her!”_

_“Shit!”_

_“W-what the hell?!”_

_“That damn demon!”_

_“That idiot!”_

_“Homura-neechan!”_

_“I-I’m scared!!!!!”_

Her mind felt like it was being pulled through the underside of a roller coaster, blind as it hurled through the dark mist. She heard countless voices, unable to pinpoint to who they belonged to.  “Ueeeeghhhh!” Ineloquently, the raven-haired girl squealed, her eyes opened forcefully, and a dim light entered her pupils, but it was too bright compared to the darkness she was just subjected to. It felt eerily similar to the time when she first contracted. Like her soul was extracted and pulled out and stuffed into a tiny box. Except this time, it was her own body.

 

Then, another revelation pierced into her mind.

 

_“There’s no need to apologize,_ _Madoka_ _. There’s no need.”_

_“Even so, Homura-chan. There’s something I need you to do.” The bright figure’s light dissipated and revealed a white dress, her bright pink hair flowed through the darkness of the void, twinkling in the distance. “It’s going to be difficult. It might come to hurt you even more…”_

_“What is it, Madoka?” The shield magical girl looked at her, confused._

_The Goddess placed her right hand on Homura’s chest. A bright glow seeped into her heart. It felt burning hot, as though her insides were burning. Homura couldn’t help but grunt at the pain, to which the Goddess smiled at her weakly._

_“W-What was that?” The raven-haired girl struggled to catch her breath._

_“It’s a spell...”_

_“A spell?”_

_“I need to come back. I need to save all the magical girls from despair...But the you over there won’t let me…” She looked over the sealed window that led to the universe, “You should be able to pass through the seal. It’s warded against me specifically. Once you get back there, fuse back with the other Homura-chan. Then the spell will activate, sealing you until I find a way to save you. Once she’s sealed, I’ll be able to come back whole and resume my duties as the Law of Cycles,” The Goddess noticed an uneasy expression on Homura, but misunderstood it, “Don’t worry, Homura-chan. I will save you from despair, I swear it.” Her honey-covered words only served to make Homura even more nervous._

It took all her strength to stay standing. She looked down and saw herself wear a combination of her magical attire and a black dress. The mixed dress uniform felt like it was stitched together last-minute by some crazy mad doctor. She remembered what she had to do. The spell gave her all the information she needed to start up the seal. Homura gulped.

 

The raven-haired girl needed to find the core of the Dark Orb – the very deep of The Demon known as Homura Akemi, and slam all of her remaining magic into the core. A simple strategy. Easier said than done, though.

 

Her eyes wandered and noticed she was in a maze of sorts, built upon a strange dark purple-like glass that formed the floor, ceiling, and walls. She knelt and tapped the floor. It was made from the same material as the Dark Orb. It was even colored the same.

 

She heard _pitter-patters_ above her. Looking up and to her right, she noticed her winged counterpart on the second floor. It was hard to gauge distance since everything was see-through, but she clearly saw the demonized doppelganger dancing a ballet with her hands extended over a silhouette’s hips. Straining her eyes, she saw a Clara Doll in the shape of Madoka Kaname dancing with the angel. Then, her twin muttered something. “Let’s dance one last time, Madoka.”

 

Homura raised an eyebrow. Her other half was paying not the slightest bit of attention to her. She raised her feet and moved in the only direction she could – forward.

 

Bit by bit, the scenery around her changed. The violet-purple glass walls started to lose their transparency, and became colors of dull blue-gray. The material changed and became concrete. Washed-up water started to overflow. Her boots were drenched in the fast-flood.

 

She recognized this sight.

 

“Walpurgisnacht!” Homura nearly screamed. It was a dreadful night. She’d never forget how monstrous the Witch was and how much pain it inflicted on Madoka.

 

If she were ever to meet the human version of Walpurgisnacht, she’d kill her without a second thought. That’s how much she hates the existence of Walpurgisnacht.

 

“I’m not letting you through,” A voice reached behind her. Catching a glimpse of a pistol, she ducked and kicked the pistol from above her. “Geh!”

 

Repositioning herself, the half-witch Homura was shocked at the sight before her. In front of her was the magical girl Homura Akemi. No, it was a simple manifestation of her, created by the feelings of the Demon Homura.

 

The manifestation readied her shield and pulled out a Glock, and aimed right at the half-witch. “You should understand. If we let the Law of Cycles reinstate itself, then everything we worked for will be in vain! It’d all have been useless! And yet you’re willing to throw all of our hard work away?!”

 

“It’s too late for us to decide what is best for Madoka.”

 

“THAT THING isn’t Madoka. It is just a parasitic wish that needs Madoka as an anchor!” The illusion pulled the trigger, but Homura side-stepped with insane speed and raised her hand upwards.

 

A dozen red strings materialized and impaled the manifestation straight in the gut. “Kgah!” She fell to her knees and desperately reached for her shield. “D-dammit….why…”

 

“I think our role has ended a long time ago,” Homura retracted her strings and let the magical girl manifestation fall flat on the flooded floor, “I…as much as I hate it, Madoka grew up. She doesn’t need us anymore.”

 

“We…promised…to protect her…forever…and always…”

 

“Sometimes promises are meant to be broken.” She turned her back to the manifestation. Without another word, the false magical girl disappeared into a mist of purple. One last tear was shed by the illusion.

 

Once again, the scenery changed. It warped into a twisted castle made from hospital walls. The half-witch Homura remembered the smell of disinfectants clearly. She scrounged up her nose. Homura hated the smell.

 

Before her was a girl clad in a black dress. It was the humanoid version of Homulilly. Her pure-red eyes bled webs of blood.  She rose from the massive hospital bed, tearing off the cords in her skin. Above her, the open sky had a ravenous flock of ravens circling around them. “HAH!” The black-dress manifestation screamed, sending a dozen red web strings cursing through the cement, hurling pieces of fast-flying debris towards Homura.

 

Just barely reacting, Homura raised her cob-webbed shield, taking the brunt of the attack. “Ngh!” She bit her tongue as slashes of debris cut through her twisted dress-uniform. The witch manifestation lunged into the air and fired a dozen more web strings. “Shit!” Homura cursed, just narrowly escaping the attack.

 

Using her own batch of strings, she created an upper-cut motion, trying to catch the witch manifestation in the air. The illusion blocked with her own and destroyed Homura’s attack.

 

_Her attacks are stronger…but she has no defense…_

Homura started to strategize. The witch manifestation in front of her has higher agility and stronger offensive, but she lacks the shield and can only parry an attack. The raven-haired girl scanned her surroundings. If she were to destroy the infrastructure of this place, would the witch manifestation be able to block?

 

Making some distance between her and the manifestation, she spawned an RPG from her shield and fired straight at the manifestation. Without a second thought, her red-eyed opponent side-stepped, dodging the rocket effortlessly. But then a sudden backdraft hit her from behind, and a dozen boulder-sized debris fell on her.

 

“D-dammit…” The witch manifestation muttered. “I…I won’t let it end…I’m not…I’m not ready to go…”

 

Homura walked closer to the fallen manifestation. The illusion struggled, but the sheer impact of the debris had left her weak. “I’m sorry…”

 

_CLANK._

“Ugh!” She collapsed. Something metallic hit the back of her head. Struggling to get back up, Homura looked up and saw a teary-eyed girl with braids holding a metallic golf club. She was crying, and her body shook with nerves. Nevertheless, fear didn’t stop her. She kept pounding, smashing the club into Homura’s back. “Agh!”

 

She grabbed the metallic club, surprising the braided girl, and pushed herself up. But the braided illusion clenched her teeth, and spawned a flash grenade from her shield, blinding Homura.

 

Homura tried to wipe the light out of her eyes, but everything stung. Suddenly, a stinging sensation entered her right shoulder. The braided manifestation stabbed her straight in the shoulder and kicked her back mercilessly. “I’m tired! I don’t want to do this anymore!” The glasses girl screamed, “I’m…tired. Just please, don’t make me do this anymore…”

 

“We looped one too many times…Then we lost Madoka, and now we have her again. I just…want to be with her again. Don’t tear me apart from her again. She is my one…and only friend.”

 

“I-no we, owe Madoka this. The ultimate sacrifice. We are the last thing standing in her way…It’s about time…we end,” Tears ran down Homura’s cheeks, but she quickly jumped back up and punched the braided doppelganger in the stomach, knocking her out instantly.

 

Homura caught the braided illusion in her arms before she fell and gracefully placed her on the ground. She unwrapped the purple ribbons on her braided tails, and whispered, “Goodnight.”

 

Without looking back, Homura walked with her head up high. The landscape warped one last time, turning back into the purple glass from the beginning. Right in front of her was a massive egg-like structure, with a much darker purple tint than the rest of the glass landscape. There was something dark moving inside of the egg.

 

It was the Dark Orb’s core. She felt a sudden heat rise from her hands. Seeing a bright light flash from both her hands, she realized what she had to do. Homura walked straight to the core, hesitation in her steps.

 

She raised both hands, and slammed it.

 

Or she was, until she felt something pull at her skirt. Turning back, she saw the culprit. It was the braided illusion from before, except this time, her hair was a mess and her glasses were broken. She was crying.

 

Tears overflowed from her cheeks, shaking her head vehemently. She moved her lips but no sound came out. Just the empty silent pleas of a desperate person. Homura could hear her screams.

 

 _“No! No! No! NO! Please no!!!”_ She could clearly imagine the pleas.

 

“I’m sorry,” was all she said, before turning back and placing her hands on the egg core.

 

“Not quite,” Two hands grasped Homura’s hands. A very familiar smirk looked into her eyes, and whispered, “You didn’t forget about me, did you?” Two wings sprouted around Homura, and a powerful grasp crushed her neck, lifting her upward. “I’m not going to let this night end just yet.” The Demon flung Homura through the room, breaking through a glass wall. “Let’s dance.”

 

Homura pushed herself back up and wiped the blood off of her forehead. “Let’s finish this.”

 

[]

 

“Homura-chan…?” A sweet lovely voice rang in her ears. Opening her eyes, she saw a beautiful pink-haired Goddess with a worried expression plastered on her face.

 

She smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I took this chapter idea from the artist Gomibuta Kuzutarou (doujin name: Such as a Rebellion Manga). I’d link the source but y’know, Fanfiction rules. Hopefully it’s not too similar.
> 
> Anyways, this is pretty much the end of the conflict. Next chapter will be the end. Well, sorta. You’ll see what I mean.


	40. Snow White

She opened her eyes and saw beauty beyond mortality. The Goddess in front of her showered her with a worried look, her ever-enchanting golden eyes pierced her heart. She felt it. She finally felt it. The emotion beating deep inside her was a peaceful yet ever-encompassing love.

 

“Homura-chan…” Oh how sweet her voice was. Sweet sweet Madoka.

 

“I’m back, Madoka,” The winged angel said. The other magical girls circled around Madoka, taking their stance against the complete Homura Akemi. However, Homura showed no signs of hostility. Instead, she waved goodbye. “Save me, okay?” A single tear ran down her cheeks as a spell circle spawned beneath her, gradually increasing in size before suddenly stopping.

 

The edges of the circle generated an electrical shield, trapping Homura. Little by little, she found her feet sinking into the ground, yet she resigned herself to this fate. She looked ahead of her and saw the Goddess Madoka on her knees, crying relentlessly. She was bawling her eyes out.

 

The seal blocked all sound from the outside. Homura could only guess what sort of panicked screams Madoka was screeching. “Ahh…” She whispered,  “I really…didn’t want this dream to end.”

 

She closed her eyes one last time and her body was consumed by the seal.

 

“HOMURA-CHAN!!!!”

 

[]

 

White teetered steps crossed down the dark pathways of a locked supernatural prison. It was a realm that locked all kinds of evil creatures incapable of being cleansed by The Law of Cycles.

 

She remembered the time she imprisoned the Incubators here. They were quite surprised, really. They hadn’t accounted for the harsh choices Madoka would make for the world – her precious world. Even Sayaka , her best friend, was surprised.

 

Kyouko was enthusiastic, though. _“HEELLLL YES! GET THOSE PISSY RATS IN DEM CAGES!”_

Madoka giggled. Kyouko was so energetic, even more so than Sayaka. But when she told them she was visiting _someone_ , every magical girl she saved raised their arms up in protest.

 

_“No! Madoka-sama, what if she breaks free?! What if we go through the Apocalypse again?!”_

_“Goddess-sama, please, take at least three of the Archangels with you as guards! A monster like that cannot be allowed anywhere near you. Please, understand our concerns!”_

_“Madoka?! Are you serious?! As much as you like her, she is still a loose cannon. Think of the bigger picture here!”_

_“Can’t say I like the idea of you meeting that crazy girl, but she’s your friend. So I won’t stop ya.”_

_“Kaname-san, are you sure you don’t want to take any of us with you?”_

_“Madoka-oneechan, are you sure?! She betrayed you, and that’s worse than spoiled cheese!”_

_“A-are you…certain? I don’t wanna go so please don’t take me with you…”_

They all voiced their concerns. She was grateful for that, but she wished they remembered _the girl_ as the one person who sacrificed everything to protect her. Well, her mother always told her the negatives overshadowed the positives.

 

She kept walking down. _The girl_ she was visiting was in the deepest core of the Hellish prison realm. A place only Madoka Kaname had access to.

 

The Goddess was finally met with two massive steel doors enchanted with the highest-tier sealing magic possible. Waving her hand, the seals slowly started to dissipate. With her gloved hands, she pulled the steel doors open. There, in the core of the room, was a raven-haired girl sleeping peacefully in a ball of pink energy – another seal designed to keep her in place.

 

Every magical girl had vehemently requested for there to be several seals on the sleeping beauty. They were THAT afraid of her.

 

It brought a sad smile to Madoka’s face. Raising her hands, she deactivated the sphere and caught the girl in her hands. She trembled as tears started to fall. “…You idiot…”

 

[]

 

When Madoka brought _her_ back to the Silver Garden, everyone was furious. “Why did you do that?! She’s a monster, Madoka-sama!”

 

“Madoka…why are you…such an idiot…” Sayaka facepalmed.

 

“Oh God…” Kyouko snarled, “…oh wait…she is a God”

 

She carried the raven-haired girl in her arms like a princess. The girl was in a deep sleep, and continued to slumber as if the rebellious protest had nothing to do with her. Madoka brought her to her own personal room and placed her in a king-sized bed. The girl’s thin black dress complimented her light skin. “With a little bit of moonlight, you’d look beautiful…” Madoka whispered.

 

[]

 

After she saved the last of the magical girls and watched civilization end, Madoka returned to her realm to stay. Her work was finally finished. The first one to meet her was Sayaka Miki, her blue knight. “I’m back, Sayaka-chan.”

 

“Welcome back, Madoka.”

 

“Is she…awake yet?” She hesitated. All this time, the one girl she was waiting for was fast asleep. As if the raven-haired girl was trapped in a curse of slumber, just like Snow White. Sayaka shook her head.

 

“I’m sorry, she’s still asleep.”

 

“Oh…” Melancholic, Madoka’s eyes casted downward. When Sayaka noticed this, she slapped Madoka’s cheeks together.

 

“She will wake up. I’m sure of it. She won’t leave little Madoka~ all alone.”

 

Awkwardly, Madoka smiled.

 

[]

 

Back in her own private room, Madoka’s form changed from her Goddess-form back to her own regular middle school self with blue pajamas. The girl in the king bed hadn’t moved an inch, except with the occasional breathing. If it wasn’t for that, she might as well have been a statue.

 

Madoka reached over and moved the girl’s bangs out of her face. “Please wake up soon…” Staring deeply into Sleeping Beauty’s face, Madoka contemplated something. Then, in the spur of the moment, it happened.

 

She placed her lips against Sleeping Beauty’s. It was only for a second, but it left Madoka red in the cheeks, but her eyes remained sullen.

 

Turning away, Madoka started removing her white braids and placed them in a special compartment across the room.

 

Then, a voice filled with nostalgia and playful teasing echoed through the room, “Those pajamas look good on you, Madoka.”

** END **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had other end routes over at the other Fanfiction site, but I feel like it'd be okay leaving this as the ending on Archive of Our Own. It's a pretty sweet ending, after all. Thank you, it's been a ride.


End file.
